I was just curious if it would be a better idea to look for a really cheap property and then do a rehab loan or stick with my regular FHA loan and look for an investor for fixes?

You can tell people about your goals just continue to be confident and know that there will occasionally be people throwing shade.

And do some simple and cheap security upgrades if you feel like that would add value to your property, plus keep them there if they are good tenants.

@Richard Kelly Solar panels are not cheap, they may not be the most beautiful thing in the neighborhood but they look like they were professionally installed and in great shape.

If you ever want to get together to throw ideas around I am sure I'm right around the corner from you!

I am currently renting an apartment in LA with my brother and we believe we are throwing money out the window by not using that money to pay down a mortgage instead. 

I'm sure a lawsuit here, a natural disaster there... throw in a bad tenant or a downturn in the market, etc. these will make 'averages' skew downward drastically when the investor is just starting out and only has a few properties.

I'm sure it wouldn't be terribly hard to throw a site together to allow people to book direct. 

I covered the cheap counters with contact paper to look like high end marble (~$100), framed the mirrors with trim (~$10 per mirror), upgraded old carpet to vinyl plank ( Lessons learned?

Way cheaper, no legal issues, more respect and there is a decent chunk of cheap or free training out there from the mega brokerages.