I live in the Tahoe takes regular upkeep from the snow to the intense sun to wildfire risks. 

Regular sale, where you have to pay for pre-sale rehab, commission (5-6%), tax (20-30%), and recapture of depreciation.2.

Hydrogen that comes from regular tap water via electrolysis.

Keep in mind the other homes on the market may all be over-priced at the moment, which is why it's important to watch the market regularly and build a strong sense of what it's doing.

But then, you have to inspect regularly and become the couch police.

Most of us who own RE came into it from somewhere else - either from working a regular job and squirreling away investment money into RE or working in a RE career and acquiring properties in the process. 5.

Use the "extra" income to build a reserve for maintenance, vacancies, and other expenses that don't happen regularly.

You can self manage (which I understand is work), but it also forces you to monitor your investments more, and makes you a better investor, even if you were to outsource (since you now know what goes into it).

Then I get the prospective clients making 6 figures on their regular job but they're still swapping out doors on kitchen cabinets or fixing toilet guts in the evenings and can't see the forest through the trees yet. 

.  --- and... these issues become issues for the other Tenant and then turns you into the constant 'utility police' because you constantly have to monitor # of occupants... eww. 50/50 is simple and simply understood and 100% while vacant is also simply understood.