@Becca F. I read the OP’s original post. It was not clear to mo that his properties are in San Diego or CA. My response will assume OP is invested in So Cal.
What he seems to be burned out on is nearly my path in San RE except I have mostly small MF but I will address some of his questions/comments.
>I don't have as much appetite for single family homes due to the work involved in getting loans and meager cashflow, expenses, low return, etc etc.
I question how someone in So Cal market is getting low returns. my worst appreciating property has appreciated over $2700/month. My best appreciating has appreciated over $10k/month. I suspect virtually all non commercial MF purchased more than a couple years ago to fall between these 2 numbers.
There is poor correlation between initial cash flow and actual long term cash flow. The reason for this is that RE market prices are based on numerous criteria. Some of the big ones are expected appreciation, expected rent growth, and risks. In most markets, the market with the highest rent to price ratio is the lowest class areas. This is because of the risks and effort to have rentals in that market. Similarly, the markets with the best initial cash flow typically have poor historical appreciation and rent growth. The properties with poor initial cash flow often have good/great historical appreciation. Rent growth has a strong relationship to appreciation. The better appreciating property is likely to have the better cash flow over a long hold.. All my properties have rent to purchase cost ratios above 1%, many over 2%, and one over 4%. My cash flow is modest only because I have extracted value. My cash flow would exceed virtually all other markets if I had not extracted money out of the properties.
Residential RE is not passive. You can make it more passive by using a good PM. It still is not passive.
>I would like to grow my portfolio/business, but not sure what is the best approach since I have maxed out conventional loans
Usually around the time you run out of conventional loan options you recognize other loan options. I have 10 conventional loans, but I also have crazy DTI (over 800 to 1). I cannot get conventional loans but have not found it to be a huge hurdle. DSCR loans and portfolio loans are good for near stabilized properties.
>I am in a high price area where there are not many rentals with any cashflow and I don't like betting purely on appreciation
See my earlier comment on initial cash flow vs the cash flow over the hold. The market with better rent growth will always have the better cash flow with enough time. A lot of investors look at the initial cash flow and do not recognize the inverse relationship of initial cash flow to actual cash flow over a long hold. If I had not extracted cash out of my San Diego properties, how do you think my cash flow would compare to high initial cash flow markets like Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, etc? I think the answer is obvious.
>Should I sell some of my rentals
If you properties where purchased before q2 2022 you likely have a below current market interest rate and artificially liw property tax due to prop 13. I think if you have burn out, you could hire a PM and likely do better than you can do on a new acquisition.
>What is the next step?
I suggest you seek your passion going forward. You can succeed or fail in any of your proposed paths, but you are more likely to succeed and enjoy the path more if it is a passion. For me I have come to recognize that I enjoy building wealth. I enjoy identifying opportunities, optimizing those opportunities, and seeing my net worth grow. I also enjoy researching syndications and benefitting on a passive basis (but my recent history is not good (2 of the 3 I have entered in the last few years appear to be doing poorly).
good luck
