It's been so bad here, that I bought an STR in Indiana with another business partner in 2024 because there are minimal opportunities here - unless you have the ability and budget to extensively source off market properties here.  

So, yes, you can absolutely have a great rental business as an out of state ( and even international ) investor, as long as you have a solid team that are your boots on the ground. 

My business is built around doing deals for out of state investors and my mind is BLOWN by how many flat out refuse to come visit, meet our staff or walk the property that they bought and we are rehabbing for them.

Any recommendations or suggestions on how to navigate this?

Keep personal and business finances separate to create less headache.You should also do the following to make your bookkeeping easier:- File all receipts in a dedicated Google Drive folder.

I only pay for BP leads and all other business comes from my sphere/referrals. 

California needs businesses to start putting a lot of pressure on it.

You can do this with almost any business, as long as you are bringing in the clients, leads, deals and etc..

I have experience investing (own 2 STRs and an assisted living home+business).

I then did the same idea in my business that I had for 25 years.