It is my understanding that many California markets make sense from the standpoint of future appreciation as opposed to immediate cash flow.

Nobody monitors or enforces it, but you should understand this before jumping in.

I remember one guy in the S.F.Bay area that found a site for a new Pepsi plant when Pepsi was unable to find one and made a very large finders fee, his mistake he got involved in the deal to far instead of stopping at the introduction phase and the Pepsi lawyers used that to not pay his finders fee, but only waiting until it was almost time to pay him and the deal was basically done.

I get involved in A LOT of side discussions (when a thread goes off the rails and away from the original post) on BiggerPockets.

I'll wait for a few months to understand how the market goes. 

If you are interested in investing in the U.S. market I think that there are better options depending on how much capital you have available and what level of involvement you are looking for.

Understanding Michigan property tax laws may explain what you are seeing.In Michigan, property taxes reset upon sale and then are capped at CPI.  

It has definitely helped me to understand how all the numbers work together.

Go ask a realtor to tell you the market value of your property as well for a better understanding 

These platforms do not get involved in the transaction beyond the connection, and so any liquidity options and investor may have are simply what that sponsor has or has not offered in that individual fund/deal.