BP has done such a great job of promoting SFR investing to the masses, that those masses have pushed up real estate prices to where it's now DIFFICULT to cashflow right away.Keep going, but understand you won't get rich in real estate overnight - it's a long-term wealth building strategy.For the short-term, recommend joining a few in-person investor meetings if possible, otherwise online ones.

I would think transient room mates on renewable short leases would be much safer than bearing the brunt of San Francisco's LTR tenant laws.

Which reminds me that I should mention that I’m not opposed to living a not-so-luxurious lifestyle in the short run.

Short Sales, Bank Owned, $/sqft, school district, days on market, etc.  

Short Term: No, not happening. 

I’ve been hearing some chatter about large hotel chains lobbying significant funds to push for regulations or outright bans on short-term rentals like Airbnb.

This plays into the affordability issues for tenants by allowing them to live in nicer neighborhoods for less money, yet I get monthly revenue comparable to short-term rentals.I have also shifted my focus to buying better.

Short term rentals in St Pete are technically illegal but it doesn’t stop hundreds of other investors from doing it.

Welcome to BP and come on over to the Short Term Rental part of the forums.  

Others might be fine with taking risk, but least by doing this a person can get an idea of what might go wrong.e) Legal document analysis: it will usually take a few days to go through the legal document properly, as almost inevitably there are tons of gotchas that either have to be explained, or mitigated with a side letter.That is the very short summary of what I do.