But from my limited time in the game, I’ve found that my complete lemons are cash cows a few years later as market rent comes up well and my cap ex fixes a few years ago have paid off.

SB 9 sounds like a real game-changer for California investors.

So you really need a downpayment + 15k to be in the game.

It was just a waiting game going through the foreclosure process Lessons learned?

You just have to get in the game, learn, and adapt as you go. 

Although I probably get killed on transaction fees which is part of why I am not pulling the trigger (along with lack of time to execute well).There are games you can play for increasing your returns in the stock market (sector rotations, rebalancing, being a good company picker) but you lack operational control. 

That way you’ve got some skin in the game, and the tenants will be less likely to protest that the other tenants are using more electricity or gas.

So you will need to have skin in the game.

I would guess that you have little or no experience running any kind of STR, and now want to get that experience on the back of someone else's investment, with little or no personal skin in the game, and that's not a good way to build an investment portfolio.

Use next 4-6 months to learn by listening, reading and watching how the real estate investment game works.