My parents have been very involved in the purchasing process- touring the property with me, etc.

Communication is SEVERELY lacking from all the agents involved plus the brokerage.Finally, I just drive to the sellers house in person and knock on the door.

You're not on site or within driving distance and even with a property manager, lots of things can happen. 

I charge $99 on Instagram to teach people about investing and long distance investing with little to no money down.

With my background in law, currently studying in Indonesia, and my experience as a real estate agent, I’ve seen firsthand the opportunities and legal considerations involved in such investments.

Bigger Pockets is a great place to learn and connect with fellow investors.If you’re looking to invest long distance, I definitely recommend building your core-4 team.

Long term rentals are unattractive in CA imo especially since you can earn a lot more with different rental strategies even doing mid term rentals will still probably be more profitable than doing a long term rental.As far as hiring a contractor or bringing in subs for each item that will come down to how much you want to be involved, you'll save money finding and subbing out individual jobs but it will take you longer and you will need to manage everyone you hire and contract to do business with whereas a contractor will manage all that for you but there will be a premium put onto the price obviously for that. 

Surround yourself with positive people and distance yourself from negative ones.

I’m a beginning investor and am trying to wrap my head around the tax benefits involved with real estate.  

Buy a condo at your own peril. wow thanks for letting me know about the risks, and about long distance investing.