I think you're better off owning rental property outside your IRA. Technically its supposed to be hands off and there are already good tax deductions you can have without an IRA. If you really insist on it form an LLC owned by your IRA. You still need to pay someone to manage the property and it can't be you.
The other tricky thing about IRAs is that if you own a property in your own name or company name you own you can't easily get it into your IRA without self dealing. The sale can't benefit you personally in any way and you can't transfer assets directly.
You can do some really creative things with notes and options in your IRA if you can find a financial friend to help you out. For example, you can give an interest only note on a rental property to a good friend with an option to purchase the property at a later date. He manages it and gets a cut so its hands off for your IRA and he gets the tax benefits of owning rental property. The option allows you to collect the appreciation at a later date. Record the option with a mortgage to protect your interest if the other party tries to sell it behind your back. The option doesn't have to be an exact amount either. You can say you get 50% of the net sales price past 100 k. Be creative and make a mutually beneficial deal.
