With a good chance of a recession coming, have cash available to take advantage of the best deals to hit the market in years. 

Alternatives for Capital Gains ReductionSince capital gains are taxed lower than W-2 income, these strategies may offer better tax relief:Opportunity Zones – Defer and reduce gains by reinvesting in Qualified Opportunity Funds.Gifting Appreciated Stocks – Transfer to lower-income family members for potential 0% capital gains tax.MLPs (Master Limited Partnerships) – Tax-advantaged investments that generate passive income with deferred tax liability.Tax-Loss Harvesting – Sell underperforming assets to offset gains.If reducing W-2 taxes is your priority, STRs are a great move.

@Scott LorenceThe advantages to renting to college students are that they generally leave after a few years so you can do repairs or updates, you can raise rents on a regular schedule, they will pay a premium to be near campus, and if you get engineering students they tend to fix the small stuff on their own.

I am an active broker in Georgia, but my California broker license is currently inactive so if there is anyway i can help you, please let me know.One huge advantage of a California broker license is that practically every state will reciprocate a California broker license, but California will reciprocate with no other states. 

Remember bank debt is generally the cheapest input in the capital stack, so take advantage to the extent you can. 

Thank you so much @Michael K Gallagher I am looking forward to that, I will try to be active here and take advantage of all the knowledge and looking forward to make great connections. 

If you classify the property as a "second home" instead of an investment property, you could potentially put down as little as 10%, which is a great advantage.

Neither has a huge advantage over the other.  

With that said, preserving cash gives you the advantage to scale.

Of course many just duck and dont take advantage of it etc etc.