Quote from @David Brooks: I've received advise that our friendly STR loophole can not be used to characterize STR income/loss as non-passive on a California tax return. 

Reach out if you want to discuss, I can get you connected with a great local investor friendly agent!

When my wife and I started out we new we wanted to invest but did not know how to, we took action and unfortunately found a family friend realtor (amazing learning experience) then we found bigger pockets. 

They service all fifty states , and they are an investor friendly company they understand our needs.Cool!

I would say you should start off by just meeting multi-family investor-friendly agents who can help get you started with 5 units search and work on finding you off-market ones as well Thanks Kerlous!

I'm assuming if this was an option everyone would already be doing it but I am just curious from a professional to understand why this isn't an option.I received a question from a friend that was somewhat similar to mine above which got me thinking. 

Recently had a tenant’s friend slip and fall.

Besides having a personal friend to mentor you, this is the next best place to learn.

They look for open layouts, kid-friendly amenities, and smart storage solutions.

I always found QB to be clunky, not user friendly and just kind of overkill.