I know locals that eck out a living barely owning these no one gets wealthy with Trash flow..

A lot of people in distressed situations, these are the markets where wealth is transferred and if you want it to transfer your way you have to stay active and make offers. 

Working long hours tends to lose it's luster.Being in the NNN space for commercial for passive wealth I have talked with thousands of millionaires over the decades on the phone and built lasting relationships.

Real estate wealth is not political even if one party says they want this.  

These reasons are pushed to "the regular people" real world wealthy people I've see don't worry about it.

Sky high prices that continually rise, and a constant supply of wealthy / high income people willing to pay those prices.

You only need base hits repeated over time in order to become wealthy.

Folks vote for no more STRs, they are gone and you are out of luck.If there is a large block of condo's owned by a single entity, like a wealthy family or corporate entity, you are also in the same boat.

Why do you think so many wealthy families own real estate? 

Make it work... real estate investing is THE BEST WAY to get wealthy and stay wealthy.