Short term rentals can work in urban areas too...people travel for many reasons. 

And what specific people I should contact before starting.

This helps weed out the people who aren't that interested. 

I know of people going with Credit Unions getting significantly lower rates than the rest of the market, but then I know of plenty of lenders claiming that you can’t get that at all.

these people are not real.. why bother ?

There are so many beautiful areas of CA that people still want to live. 

Anyone I know who invested in Spain in the last ten years took a bath and I know a lot of people who did.

Whether it says Passive LP, creative financing, fix and flipping, notes, Short Term Rentals, seller financing  etc - I am at the bottom - I can scream no but I far too often hear stories of people quitting their job to pursue real estate and then end up very unsuccessful. 

Always look at reviews, and make sure they are legit reviews made by real people.

It’s often sold as an alternative to larger security deposits or co-signers for people with bad credit bad rental history.