They are also a great buffer to help hammer out small details that can snowball into larger issues that kill deals.That said, maybe there are circumstances that make it worthwhile to you.

The big hammer would be if enough complaints came in and the state suddenly allowed local municipalities to regulate.

-get a CPA who understands real estate.Things that I DID do when starting out that I think were critical for success:-find an agent with extensive first-hand experience maintaining and managing their own rental properties (someone who actually can swing a hammer and fix basic plumbing problems), and who is excellent at evaluating a property for potential issues before you make an offer.

@Scott Ozawa, low ends in certain parts of the bay area got hammered during the 2008 down turn.

The rest is better for suited for TV shows,  because painting is boring and even though now you can add a "legal bedroom", it's still below grade square footage and in an medium priced Milwaukee neighborhood will only fetch you about $20 per SF.Equity is created much easier with the pen than with the hammer.

Even Silverlake, mid city aren't really gentrified so betting on South LA gentrification is pretty far stretched imo also be aware that at each recession / market dip these poor districts gets hammered very hard and get loads of foreclosures, hence the higher cap rates  

In engineering we have a saying that all problems look like nails when all you have is a hammer.

It can sometimes take weeks to close a loan and if a project is delayed, they hammer their borrowers with fees and penalties.

Really there is only one variable, (I'm probably going to get hammered for this) the capitalization rate.

I hammer tenants on the phone with questions before I even consider showing them anything.