*I USED to own properties in San Mateo Co CA (Silicon Valley)and found that the Building/planning dept was so malfeasant and next to impossible to work with that I sold my properties AFTER I spent YEARS trying to 1st get plans approved,** then completing the work.

I spend a few hours a month paying bills, answering questions from my PMs and approving large bids, and then occasionally handling a turnover.  

They cannot arbitrarily make wild gambles because they feel like it - they have to operate within established risk parameters that are approved by several regulatory bodies and internal controls.

There will always be demand in the market (it's not like some covid markets that could disappear as vacation destinations almost entirely over the next decade), and the regulation risk is as near to zero as you can get in this industry so long as you buy in the approved tourist zones (again, compared to some smaller/less mature markets where they could outlaw STRs tomorrow).For short period cash flow there are better options. 

Ive done all my research (plans, permits, contractors, etc) and feel like it's a no brainer and a fairly streamlined approval process in my area.

I suspect they have probably gone full blown HML doing  A  and  D But yes legit professional and once approved they will fund. 

Apartments for me, is not user friendly at all, it almost crashes every time I touch the unit photos, and it will approve my listing then deny and unpost it a week later.

@Roberto Kattan- 1) locate a realtor for the  Roch rea thats   familair with  invesment props  ...they can  help immensely    2)  if you will need  to use  financing - make sure ou are  fully pre approved  

No locks shall be changed without Landlord approval."

you choose one pay for it and they provide them.What I found out is they just send over the plans with no updates to current codes so we submit then and get check sheets sometimes 3 or 4 and takes 90 days to get approved instead of them understanding the new codes updating the plans before giving them to us.And to be fair to the architect we can send in the same plans and depends on which examiner gets them some will fly through others come back with check sheets that an examiner frustration issue.