Even worse, the investor has no control.

Many of them struggle to relinquish control and delegate tasks to specialists who are better suited for those specific jobs.

I need to investigate more about how to control a LLC or trust like you mentioned.

Quote from @Gregory Wilson: This depends on what level of control you can exercise over the W-2 employer.

I would also be concerned with land rent going up over time, and having no control over that.  

Understand Proposition 13 for property tax benefits, local transfer taxes, and strict tenant and rent control laws.

Income Late fee Gross rent Expenses Advertising Cleaning Gardening/lawn mowing Insurance Interest on loan(s) property tax Legal expenses Pest control Property agent fees/commission Repairs and maintenance Water charges Electric Bill Total expenses Net rental income or (loss)

In 2017 I had zero debt, a good job and was leveraging my 401k… I have traded that philosophy to acquire large amounts of debt, no 401k or IRA contributions and now have the freedom to control my own financial destiny.Below are the steps I took to remove myself from my W-2 (and 30 years of working for someone else) and obtain a career as a real estate investor:Step 1 (Education): Read and listen to as many books and podcasts as possible.

These are areas GPs can control and I guess choosing not to. 

Other countries have significant controls to this the US does not have.