The city hopes to reopen the Mayfair in February.Still, hotel investment activity could shift, and more discounted or distressed deals could transpire due to CMBS debt maturing in approximately 50 hotels in the next two years.Here are several graphs illustrating the current hospitality market in Los Angeles County:Full Los Angeles County Commercial Hospitality Market Report Here: https://d2saw6je89goi1.cloudfront.net/uploads/digital_asset/file/1183591/Los_Angeles_-_CA_-USA-Hospitality-Capital_Market-2024-01-15_compressed.pdf

The process as you have illustrated so clearly is still simply "buy, rent, sell" hopefully at a profit.

Can you please illustrate with a simple example with some numbers?

I only included a link about federal fair housing law to illustrate the point that not every rental in the country is subject to fair housing law.

Details are beyond this post, but to illustrate this requirement, hours spent watching BiggerPockets podcasts do not count7. 

Also this illustrates too, bunch of the leads that come through that you get charged for are not actual leads.

This is an extreme example but I'm trying to illustrate why you calculate expenses this way so you can have a true picture of what a home cost you.Do you need the cash flow or do you need a lump sum of cash?

Setting proper expectations takes effort (sometimes a lot of effort).Let me try to illustrate this with my own experience.  

I illustrated that the first step was covering those expenses with passive income to free up earned income from our jobs.

It nicely and convincingly illustrates what seems so completely clear and obvious to everyone trying to give advice on this thread.I think @K.