I learned that there are great opportunities to purchase low maintenance, fully remodeled homes in places where there are high quality management teams in place that can produce nearly passive income.

I have 33 rentals producing enough cash flow to support me the rest of my life, but I enjoy my work and continue working.

Rental properties have the potential to produce passive income over time with prudent planning and management.Syndications or Partnerships: To pool resources and participate in larger buildings or projects, think about joining real estate syndications or forming partnerships with other investors.

For instance, a property you purchase for 200k should produce 2k a month in revenue.

At some point in the near future I will sell everything (small to medium properties in the $300K - $7M) and do a 1031 exchange (so I don't get slammed with taxes) into a handful of large income producing properties...hire a management company and call it a day.

This is because lenders are primarily concerned with the income-producing potential of the property when determining its value.In regards to your second question, it is possible to buy a property from yourself or transfer ownership between entities.

Buying in a hot STR market may not produce the greatest CoCROI because hot markets are typically more expensive to get into.

I think ok purchases will not produce great returns.  

It's really not a hedge against the dollar collapsing, it's just your assets working for you to produce more $. 

If I was confident one way or another I would place my investing "bets" accordingly, but for now I make decisions based on where the data and trends suggest the most reliable chance of producing a return.