You certainly can have more robust systems, and probably should as you scale, but if you're looking for easy mode don't stress about it.

So why work, why stress herself out, take on student debt, hours away from family doing that 9-5 all to achieve about $80kyr.

This should be signed infront of an attorney.A basketball player had his soon to be wife finally sign the prenup on the day of the wedding....

The main reason is people get massively stressed and fear a multi-million dollar settlement and so agree to settle for a few hundred Thousand dollars. 

We not only lost our hard-earned money but on top of everything, our health suffered, I had several sleepless nights due to the stress and anxiety that this horrible experience created for my wife and me.After the buy-back was completed, I approached Maverick to at least help us with our losses by requesting us to give back ~$6000.

Even if it takes longer to pay off, having a steady, reliable tenant might actually be less stressful than managing an STR.FYI - consider starting with a regular rental but structuring it as a 6-12 month lease.

Plus stress 1000+ miles away that I can’t do anything about.3) I relate to what you said about REI perhaps being more of an obsession or passion more than anything else.

Many people recognized their scam and left, but I feel like I should say something so that people who read this post doesn't end up in the same situation.What's ironic was although they stressed the importance of financial education in the beginning, they later pretty much told the audience "join the program, you'll have all the mentor, resource, and power team, and you can make money in real estate without really knowing anything and using other people's money".  

Sadly, the biggest thing is stressing that it's not section 8 housing as that seems to be the boogeyman for any homeowner.

They say it’s too much stress, too many surprises, and not enough reward.