The other extreme is you could be your own GC and price out the various trades you need and coordinate the schedules. 

Its extremely important when running tighter margins like what you're talking about to focus on age of HVAC, water heater, appliances, roof, etc.

I'm in Open Door Capital's Fund 4 and I'm extremely disappointed.  

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.The City of Detroit has 183 Neighborhoods we’ve analyzed.PM us if you’d like to discuss this logical approach in greater detail!

On other extreme let's look at that, a "good" STR business. 

I'm not an expert, however, I am extremely experienced and if I dont have the answer I know where to find it!

When I started, I used a $64K HELOC, and today, I’ve grown it into a $3,000,000+ portfolio.That being said, BE EXTREMELY PICKY with your first property.

Keeping investor money safe in this environment requires extreme amounts of investigation. 

I use to mentor newbies at an extremely low fee.

The amount of cash-flowing deals in your market is extremely low, so when you get one you should hold on to it as long as you can so you can reap the benefits of that LA appreciation especially if the property is in a good location.