This will not compare to a large apartment complex. 

Specifically asking about public safety, appreciation vs. cash flow thoughts, and complexity of building a local team (agent, property manager, general contractor).

I visited 6 apartment complexes this week across two Midwest metro area and saw only one EV, which was owned by the regional manager, not a resident.  

How do you decide on the number of tenants able to fit in one property as I know its more complex than purely bedrooms, not speaking about legality's though.

They are effectively like any other syndication (by definition they are a syndication), but put in place a legal ownership structure to accommodate 1031 proceeds.I understand why they have higher fees than the typical syndication, given the complexity in their ownership structure compared to a "typical" syndication.At the end of the day, any return from a syndication (typical or DST) is going to be primarily driven by market cycles.  

Not too complex of a design.

Again...none of the tasks were very complex.

I think it matters more about asset class and expectations...if you are buying apartment complexes and hire a PM the has a portfolio of SFR's you're going to hate yourself at the end of the first year.

Yes, if you have an LLC in California it is more complex then most other States. 

The first time we rented from them our neighbors were selling meth and leaving bags of meth and dirty needles all over the complex.