Since 1975, the Los Angeles MSA has achieve a longterm average appreciation rate of 6.7% according to the FHFA home price index.

Get a real understanding of owning RE (Step 1), then pick which path you want to go down to achieve your wealth / passive income dreams. 

You have found the right place for a plethora of information on REI.Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsI hope BP helps you achieve your goals!

It may take you roughly 10 properties to achieve the $5k a month after your monthly expenses of PM, taxes, insurance, mortgages, etc. 

Spend a bit of time working, selling things, downsizing, cancelling the pro memberships... whatever it takes to gather that initial investment - and then you'll be in a better to place to make those appointment, place offers and allow that money to work for you and making your hard work even more valuable.Anyone who tells you that this is "easy" or a "get rich quick" plan is probably just getting rich off of whatever they are selling you... but this IS worth the hard work and CAN lead to the great financial future you're trying to achieve.   

Expected profit 300k is that achieved in 6 months or 12 months time?

When it's been hard to achieve you only grudgingly put it at risk in any form. 

Same with leasing staff, you will not benefit from "drop in" leasing since you won't have someone manning a desk 100% of the time.Success is clearly achievable at with smaller unit counts. 

I think this is really unfortunate because it’s derailing a lot of would-be investors from achieving their ideal outcome.They get a taste of what they think real estate investing is, don't like it, and they quit.

If you are able to get $400 extra per month and you spent $30k then you have not only increased the value substantially but you have also achieved a 16% annualized rate of return on $30k.