Is there any end game besides buy and hold?

[Kama Ward]

It seems the general ladder that people here work on is:
wholesale/other job/realtor to
rehabber to
low end single family to
nice single family/multi family/commercial.

This all ends at buy and hold.

Is there some other fully mature way to use real estate to build/preserve wealth?

I'm asking because I'm biased against being a landlord. I saw how hard it can be watching my father manage a few single families when I was growing up. Plus, it just doesn't seem exciting enough to babysit either a tenant or a property manager for x amount of hundreds of dollars per month per property. Maybe this is my immaturity showing! I'm willing to do it, be tough, and manage renters well if I have to-- but I'm hoping to find better/different options.

This topic may have been covered before- I've searched several times and not been able to find it. Point me in the right direction if it has.

What's your end game strategy?

How has your strategy changed over time?