Unless you're buying under market value or with all/mostly cash, it can be tough to be cash flow positive on a rental property here, and extremely unlikely to find any that meet the 1% rule as a LTR.

How do people who acquire and manage STR's track the time for their Active Material Participation activities? 

We had to replace all the plumbing ($3400 in materials), we did all the work.

@Johnson H. and @David C. have been encouraging me to put some materials together to present and share with local folks on how lucrative investing in the Bay Area could be.

Don't wait to have tough conversations.  

Bella Vista is a really great spot for a homeowner but investing there is tough.

You are not crazy :) cap rates on storage got pretty crazy in the last decade as the space has become crowded and money was cheap, starting to see some reversal of that now, but its tough to find deals at a true 10 cap (10 x NOI or NOI / .10).

@Usman Khan Yes, you can apply the short-term rental tax loophole to the STR units (80%) in your triplex if you meet the material participation requirements and have average stays of less than 7 days.

@Linh PhamI think now is very tough in Houston.

Trying to go into an existing template and add/change variables is very tough.