I found a agent (who wasn't investor friendly), they gave me a lender (who was terrible), who gave me a title company (who messed up the closing continuously), and finally the insurance person (who gave me too low of coverage).

2) Continue renting in LA for $1,000-$1,500 monthly and invest out of state.

I currently have six rentals, one commercial, one new construction spec and seven parcels of developed land that I will continue to build on.

This involves calling the PM for the HOA who called the tenants, and when it continued, call the out of state owner, who couldn't be located.

The IRS rules allow me to manage it, but I have always used a property manager and will continue to do so.

(I've tried two property managers, but have fired both because of poor performance...I have one for my out of town property & he is amazing)Option 2) Use commercial bank financing through my local bank to continue making acquisitions of SFRs to grow the portfolio.  

The best way to scale up is to sell any SFHs and purchase multi units(5+ units value driven by cap rates).You could continue buying SFHs but that will only increase your work load and risk. 

Or continue paying my coworker and collecting cash flow.

A number of Adverse Possessors mistakenly state that the “hostile” requirement of the law of Adverse Possession (open, notorious, actual, continuous, hostile possession) necessarily requires breaking the law against trespassing.

Let tenants know you will continue to advertise the unit until it is paid for.