Learn the eviction procedure for your area, perhaps contact a lawyer in the field to help you with this one, and get the fraudster you're currently housing out on the sidewalk to sleep in a cardboard box where they belong.You're going to lose plenty of money here, but this will never happen to you again, and you can minimize your losses if you move as quickly as possible.

Does anyone have any advice for people starting out in this competitive field?

you can always call or email the tenant in regards to this matter. i personally smoke as well and just would want my tenants happy and not feeling accused as its a big problem with a lot of tenant v landlord situations around the country. you can always say you got a report of the odor of weed and was just verifying the smell with both tenants on the property. you can restate your conditions with smoking. you can always ask if they are legally able to do so as well (meaning medical card). depending on how you want to handle it, if you want to make it a legal warning to the tenant as well, you should write a written letter sent by mail stating you got a report of weed and this is a written warning in case this a problem down the road, you have evidence to show the court if it gets to that matter that this is not your first occurrence. best of luck!

I started my professional career in medical device sales and still do that full-time.

I don't think anyone goes to CA to invest, but a lot of residents invest local to keep the home-field advantage which is a valid point..

From my experience the first team member to recruit will be a local Project Manager-someone who wants to help you long term as your eyes in the field and boots on the ground. 

, the more likely people will respond with valuable insights.Network actively: Join local investor meetups, online forums (like BiggerPockets), and social media groups focused on real estate to start engaging in conversations.Be open to learning: Real estate investing is a dynamic field, and the more you learn, the more you'll realize there’s to know!

There are many tax professionals in this group that are experienced in the RE field!

We have a Chicago general contracting business, and handling the field operations is a ridiculously heavy lift.As far as finding customers I think you'll have some good success with gorillia marking at some of the local investor meetups. 

So if there is any kind of physical harm to the tenant say due to slipping on the stairs etc. the tenants renter insurance will cover the medical cost.