Virtually only ones to have not done well in San Diego RE were those over leveraged at inopportune times.If you want To invest in San Diego, I suggest you save more before starting.  

Also, when it comes to negotiating the rent: - Should I ask for a phone call or virtual meeting to discuss the price?

I have had a couple of addresses over the years and usually I have used UPS, but lately I have seen a lot of virtual option popping up ... earthmail ... regus ... digital mailroom ... there seem to be quite a few.Would anyone have feedback on the best route to go?  

I will provide some thoughts on the San Diego purchase- virtually all high LTV mls purchases since rates started to hike have negative cash flow at purchase- historically great appreciation- historically great rent growth but recently flattening- prop 13 is great benefit for long holds- laws keep getting less LL friendly.

He had performed virtually no underwriting.  

John - I've recently added "virtual staging" to my rental photos.

And even though virtually every sponsor agreement allows me to share investment information with others who might be advising me on it (especially when club members are bound by an NDA), I still ask the sponsor if I can share it, because it's a test.

This was a poorly timed purchase at full retail so it likely is worse than virtually every other San Diego RE investor’s monthly appreciation. 

I also use their virtual credit cards which enables me to assign a card to a specific person, like the cleaner for my STR for example, so when she runs a charge, it automatically drops into the right account in terms of categorizing my expenses.

Even if you have a good framework, it's much harder to manage virtually and stay on track.