It also takes a personal guarantee from the borrower.  

For my personal investment journey I have done flips, buy and hold, BRRR, and wholesale.

Stunning nature with the Pacific ocean and gigantic Santa Monica Mountain Range out the door with year round near perfect weather.Close to everything from Malibu to Calabassas, Ojai, Santa Barbara etc and within the same 45 min to 1 hour distance ( traffic depending) to 3 commercial airports, namely LAX, BUR, SBA.The university, USCCI is the only one of its kind growing in leaps and bounds while general enrollment numbers are in decline everywhere else along the CA coast.

Purchase price: $58,000,000 Cash invested: $74,000 I am a LP in a group fund that bought three large, institutional properties.

Would a handyman be the right person to show the apt?

That's not practical for family helping out and it's too large an area to get your arms around and really learn the ins and outs of as an investor. 

Most range from $30-$50.

Many people go there in (large) groups, which most short-term rentals can't accommodate.

.- Total cost of these projects would range between $390k-$550K.

Unless you can walk the real estate walk with these folks, hire a reputable person to represent you.