It was a little wild, but it proved something: if the numbers make sense, investors show up.Now, you’re in London, which has its own flavor, but the core idea isn’t too different.

I feel like they play by more subtle or more aggressive rules that I don't understand quite as easily as simpler markets like Denver and even places like San Francisco.

Once you get a flavor for lending options you should run a proforma and determine how much return the project will be able to generate on its's own and how much return will be left for LP investors if you go the syndication route.

Have there been subtle approaches that worked for you?

. $8.47 Subscribe & Save Flavored Decaf coffee pod sampler 40ct - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W2F3LKW?

It is easy to maintain and can offer a pretty good variety of flavors.

I think there must be some organization that has this canned business model ready to go and approaches people who have names / followings and offers to implement it for them, given the near absolute uniformity in the advertising, and the convention / sell / upsell structure with all the exact same sales tactics, just substituting out the guru for the flavor of the week.

My guess is though that as you and I suspect it is the "flovor of the day" as you say and a pretty bad flavor at that. 

Rental properties come in several flavors... short term, long term, etc.  

I'm about halfway through "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuc k" - it's been a decent read so far.