Many municipalities have essentially made it impossible due to low tax revenue and high system burden.

But in the past year, as I'm sure most of you know, it's been nearly impossible to find inventory.

It's not impossible that the property won't pass the test but it is more difficult.  

Would it be justifiable based on the condition that they were supposed to have the utilities on but we found out all this crap about the impossibility of such after the agreement was made??

This seems almost impossible to me unless I'm buying dumps and completely rehabbing the place.  

I didn't realize it would be near impossible to take out a loan this small as my bank pre-approved me (for a higher amount) a while ago and this wasn't even mentioned.

I had a very good contractor who worked on stuff up until about 3 years ago, but he is in such demand he is almost impossible to book now. 

Is it impossible and illegal to profit from Airbnb without owning the property?

A 10% return is not impossible, but most likely you will not be investing in Los Angeles or the Bay, especially if you are trying to put in minimal work.If you are looking to invest in long-term buy and hold projects with minimal management from your side, my company syndicates Opportunity Zone properties.

Other than buying with cash and getting cash investors (might be impossible for a newbie) how else can one finance properties?