I would buy mutiple just to cash flow in c and d neighborhoods then when i acired enough cash flow i would keep 2 sell the rest and take the majority of cash you were cash flowing and buy in b neigborhoods or look to put a downpayment on a small apt complex

The difference is it's super easy to compare gas prices with no education whereas much more difficult for non-professionals who buy a complex policy maybe a couple times in their life, and often have no education in finance, to compare title policies. 

Everything depends on the HOA and what they will allow as far as amount of rentals (within the complex) and the type of rental (LTR, MTR, STR).

It's a complex route to get the SRO status off the property via a conversion.

Not as many complexities with a few rentals, but there can still be significant issues depending on entity structure - even if they are all "disregarded" entities for federal tax purposes.If your W-2 is your full time gig, and they are all passive long term rentals, there very well could be likely not a lot of active planning to do on the real estate side, outside of getting some general knowledge out there, having some longer term plans, and ensure deductions are being maximized in the isolation of those 5 rentals.

They used different strategies: house hack in CA, STR, buy off market, buy OOS, SFH, multi-units, buy large apartment complex with other investors, etc.Thoughts on 1031 exchange to DSTs to try be more passive (no more dealing with PM, renovations, repairs,  tenant issues) but I've heard the money is trapped for 2 to 5 years depending on the operator, still researching DSTs. 

We've done this on some of our apartment complexes because two medium-sized heaters are easier to replace than one large one.

I can totally appreciate what @Keith Leckey @Austin Mountain have described regarding their personal experiences and the fact that the three of us have given you very lengthy responses to the realities of Section 8 should tell you alone the complexities that you will no doubt be dealing with if you care to enter into the program.  

If you can't manage a rental or tackle a basic remodel there's a strong chance of failure jumping into complex strategies.

I am considering branching outside of Utah for some apartment complex purchases and this is a major factor in my location criteria.