There is a very strong effort to ban them completely from R1 zoned areas which has made it very difficult to apply for a permit unless you buy a house which currently has a permit in place.

the only way i'd encourage you to invest in one of them though is if you're actually going to put time and effort into visiting and building a team and employing some kind of strategy. 

It definitely causes time and effort, at the end money to do any maintenance and repairs.Why am I still considering?

Put in the effort, build relationships, prove your value, and improve your odds of finding someone to help launch you on your path.

This will help narrow your Buy box and make your efforts more fruitful.  

actually based on what I have seen and a few I drove by this one is in GREAT Shape one of Morris's better efforts frankly.. ...

I'd always talk with the agent, but maybe you can pull out all stops on marketing efforts here. 

Like anything in life, you have to put in the effort.

I think comparing to the two-- syndications vs index funds-- is too difficult because of the nature of the specific RE under the syndication versus the broad economy(global and domestic) the index funds capture.

It's a MTRIt's definitely a little more headache than a typical LTR, but you're rewarded for the effort with much better cash flow.