Unless landlording in places like Santa Barbara there are much more sophisticated, let's say white collar ways to invest in RE other than landording some POS asset in some POS location. 

This also makes it hard to compare apples to apples when shopping around or comparing multiple markets.If you're a sophisticated investor with lots of real estate experience than "going it alone" may work out for you. 

I do know of a few that are able to raise funds from "Sophisticated Investors", which is defined rather loosely by the SEC, but essentially requires the investor has reasonable knowledge of the asset class and risk associated. 

With lower costs, preference from OTAs, full-time staff, sophisticated technology, etc., property managers are usually able to outcompete homeowners, which is why they are able to offer homeowners guaranteed income that is often just as high as a host's net income from self-management. 

It isn't all that sophisticated.

Most more sophisticated contracts and commercial contracts say that selling your interest constitutes an assignment, but most residential contracts don't mention it at all, so there's nothing stopping you from doing it that way.

Due to the nature of the business in that you're dealing with more sophisticated investors, your breadth of knowledge must be that in which you can rub shoulders with these people and speak the same language. 

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as: a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company;an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million;a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million;a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities;a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors;a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person's spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, or has assets under management of $1 million or above, excluding the value of the individual's primary residence;[10][11]a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year;[12] ora trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchases a sophisticated person makes."

As a lender, I'm sure you look at this through a much more sophisticated lens than I'm able to. 

They are just not generally as sophisticated of a buyer.Also, here in south Florida electric bills vary greatly with the seasons.