I really think that the biggest pros and cons depends on YOUR goalsI self manage my properties with the help of a VA and I like that I can be hands off now that my VA is trained.

There is way too much supply and these "big dog" buildings are offering insane incentives, effectively killing the small landlord.

They want to make the biggest fee off of each deal they can.  

When the biggest buyer in the market is gone, supply balloons and rates have to go up to bring in buyers.

My biggest advice is to start investing where you have a good network of people you know like and trust...this especially holds true if you will be investing out of state.While it's not impossible to go straight to the commerical I personally found it easier to start in the residential world and then make my way over to commerical multi-family. 

That was the biggest benefit that came up time and again was the amount of time that they stay in the property reducing turnover.

Our hypothesis was that by having the highest-reviewed properties, everything in the business would become easier.Paid Cleaners Well: Cleanliness was the biggest factor impacting reviews, so we decided not to take any chances.

But my biggest advice, make sure you properly comp the property. 

The biggest ways IMO are MLS data, multiple solutions for sellers (off market cash deal or listing), ability to rep. yourself on your own deals (saving on commission).Commission savings adds up fast when you're doing multiple deals a year.That being said, there is cost to having a license so if you're only doing a couple deals a year then it might not make as much sense.

I think your biggest asset is the 2.25% rate and the 2019 CA property tax basis.