It produces the best cash on cash return you can find.

Too much trouble and too much risk of partiers.

At the end of this you'd have a better placed portfolio ready to grow and produce NOI. 

That's information that shouldn't take much trouble to get. 

At first, we sometimes argued and we had trouble compartmentalizing business and our personal lives.

Or work differently so you produce a greater income and can buy all cash (or pay down debt so you can get a conventional mortgage)in your question I hear you wanting to be creative, which is awesome - however creative in looking for money means you may want to go where there is money?  

I'd like to encourage more of my friends to follow this path but seems like everyone I know in a hot market is having trouble landing a home right now.

C and D equals trouble; low rents; crime; vandalism; vacancy; AC units being stolen; copper being stripped, evictions; increased repairs; difficult to resell and ongoing bad news.

I can't produce more inventory all on my own.

You should never quit your day job until you have your real estate business producing at a level that you can survive.