I bought this with my brother as a pocket listing and the homes are in North Park (A highly desirable area in San Diego comparable to West Hollywood).

The seller's agent desire for a frictionless sell with full commission represents my interests just fine. 

What can be done to the property to create a desire to be rented?

I own and live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch in a desirable area suburb of Charlotte.It's my primary residence and only property.

If you're doing an STR, are you in a desirable travel destination?  

(We could frame those ideas in positive language as desire for safety vs desire for a goal.)  

Beach in So Cal is that desirable.  

Purchase price: $529,000 Cash invested: $30,000We moved to Eagle River, Alaska and found a home with an attached MIL so we could afford to get into a desirable area.

There are many multi-millionaires who built their fortunes via single fam houses.One of the best things about this approach is that it allows you to get the home with an owner occupant mortgage (which has the best terms).A few considerations:Single family properties often appreciate better than multifam properties (especially if they're in highly desirable areas).If you decide to sell it, a single fam will often be easier to sell than a multifamPeople rent single fam homes all the time, if the home is in the right area (you'll need to do your own market analyses to figure out where people are renting single fam homes, and what they're paying in rent).If someone can afford to rent a single fam home, that does not necessarily mean they could afford to buy a comparable home. 

Population growth in the region is almost all in-migration, meaning people are moving here from some place else due to the desirability of the area.