As a neighbor, personally I don't care if someone smoke a little weed every now and then, but if they are smoking non stop 25 times a day, you might lose a good tenant over that. 

What I personally do is I will hire a local Civil engineer who has done subdivisions in the jurisdiction and I will pay them up front for a detailed feasibility study.

I personally recommend checking Columbus OH - lots of job growth, population growth, and major companies moving and developing here.

I was wondering if there are any recommend in-person meetups in the LA area.

When you say "we," are you speaking about your business or your personal tax returns, or does your business flow into your personal returns because you file as a sole proprietor?  

Sometimes getting involved for a few years makes you realize you don't like it.

The lower barrier to entry would be excellent for my personally smaller net worth.

Owner financing and HELOC on personal residence How did you add value to the deal?

It is not your responsibility to house this person's items indefinitely in your rental. 

these investors were all chasing easy OOS cash flow:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1010977-12-00...if you're serious on investing in an OOS market i'd pick one, get to know it, go to it in person, and build a team, and then determine what would you need to do to get a good return in that market.