And failing that, the landlord must bear the costs of removing the alleged perpetrator (assuming rent is not paid) repair any damages, and start all over again.   

In your situation, you can of course "use" an agent to gather market information but bear in mind that that information might be biased so you need to do your own analysis and corroborate the info.

Who is bearing the risk of loss? 

And bear in mind that to get a good Contractor to go work on your properties, you will have to pay a premium.

Lastly, being a good landlord will always bear fruit so it's best to be on top of every issue that arises.

The refund has no bearing on my truthful comments.

Your thinking is very valid HOWEVERif today is 2019, then your comparison would be why buy now in 2019 since in 2016 price is way cheaper .....I think the problem of STR is not really the rate but more like liquidity (there're lot of more STR supply these days).Also please bear in mind, when you invest at STR, actually you intentionally make Airbnb rich while their cost is zero, and while they may not be making you rich.

Tenant #2:  If I don't have my ESA around, I get very sad and unhappy and can bearly get out of bed to go to my art history class.

Some RE areas are bearing the burden via high property taxes.

The vacation towns outside LA county is where I have seen success, Joshua Tree, Big Bear to name the big ones.