I currently own a successful short-term rental in Fort Lauderdale and have identified a new property nearby that I’m confident will perform well.

Every bank at that time had way too many non-performing assets on its books.

It has been a steady performer for both appreciation and cash flow over the years.

If you control how they perform tasks, set their hours, or provide tools, they should likely be a W-2 employee, requiring you to withhold taxes and comply with payroll regulations.

There is no housing market in US where real estate can out perform stocks.

So now you are throwing good money after bad probably without a guarantee of any actual performance of the company until much later down the line.  

@Philip AndersonMultifamily properties in Ventura can perform well due to the area's high rent demand, but inventory can be tight.

This is why so many people earn large sums of money quickly (lottery, sports, entertainment, etc.) and end up broke.Take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.

its genius really.. most bird dogs work for locals on a performance basis and don't have to pay the investor to bring them deals.. 

Depending how much of the neighborhood is a hot zone for renting rather buying, and which Property type is performing better than the other (meaning 1bd 1ba 2 floor renting out faster and much more consistently than a 2bd 1ba 1 floor), you can make your choice of those factors as well as other ones that impact your decision for what you wanna do with your investment.