I also can't seem to fund my 401K enough because of normal daily expenses.

Make it a part of your daily ritual that it is not a choice but a way of life.I have  a goal over my lifetime to read 1,000,000 pages of material on various aspects of life. 

Last but not least, if I buy the business and operate as an absentee owner (not involved in daily operation), is a license still required?

But for those with a longer term horizon, I have still been able to find a few SFR and Multi-family deals daily  that work quite nicely on CoC and 10-year IRR. 

Step 1: Get a job earning X amount of moneyStep 2: Get a second PT job earning Y amount of moneyStep 3: Get a third PT job earning Z amount of money (preferably this should be in the real estate field in some manner)Step 4: Wake up earlier daily, grind as many hours as you can, go to bed, repeat...

You typically can get a Property Management Company when you work your way up to about 30 units and can turnover the property to them to take over the daily operations and you get monthly reports that are financial and occupancy involved.The smaller apartment complexes (starting at about 6 units) are often owned by individuals that are willing to give you the financing. 

So your final decision might be the answer you make on those 2 properties and any decision might be decided on the debt question of good debt versus bad debt.If you have any benefits by purchasing  an apartment complex as a controlled ownership and by benefiting from a Tenants in Common joint venture association that will contribute to an apartment complex purchase and allow your keeping control of that property on a daily basis regardless of your ownership percentage.  

I've been analyzing deals on a daily basis particularly in the South LA area as @James Yoo above referred to.

Do what we need to do daily, and consistently, then let the results fall where they may.

Reading just 5 books based on investing will help you answer most of the repetitive questions this board see’s on a daily.