We are still involved in the business, but way way less. 

Sounds like a business opportunity,  once you learn Yardi, remember this, and you can have a side business teaching it.

They fail to account for their personal time.

I'm invested in a property near the Grove that's executing that business plan now.At a simpler level, that might mean buying a house with a garage, converting the garage into an ADU, and renting out the ADU.I think a super solid first step to get into the LA market is to househack a home or a multifamily.

Personally, I am not a big fan of STR's although they may be fantastic in certain areas of the county.

I started almost a year ago..its been a journey but no horror stories...yes drama but no horror...the person I was considering hiring to oversee the project decided to take the project on which was a dream come true...thx for your advice ..i did what you advised and then got lucky!

Access to an STR isn't essential, but helpful and bonus when it's personal usage time..- Insurability & Operations costs: Can be considerably lower (especially in comparison to CA) with most coastal regions there is much lower wildfire risk and the properties that are in flood zones, have surprisingly accessible and affordable policy costs.

You might want to explore STR tax strategy if you are finding that the long-term rental tax strategy isn't working for your personal situation...

Personally, I like that it’s a bit more spread out and the views from the pool areas are very nice.

My initial idea was 10-20% down with 7% interest rate for 10 or 15 years after doing research. 1 person suggested a balloon at the end and another person advised against it.