@Keegan Rosett the first and most important thing to know is unless your approaching an existing operator in the space, and just throwing $ at em to gain an equity position, IT IS NOT INVESTING. 

Treasuries or structured annuities to fund your future payments.Tax Advantage: This structure defers capital gains tax as the gain is only recognized when you receive the installment payments.

@Dan Keefeif you're trying to make a return that beats the interest rate on a HELOC to generate "passive income"... that is going to be very, very tough. 

The tax hit on capital gains and depreciation recapture will likely hurt. 

For example, how passive or hands-on would you like to be, or are you looking for mostly cash flow or appreciation?

It’s been cash-flow positive, with strong reviews, minimal vacancy, and runs on a fairly passive system I’ve developed.My Goal: Now that I’m local to Orange County/South Bay, I’d like to apply the systems, experience, and insights I’ve gained to launch a property management company focused on both midterm/furnished and traditional long-term rentals.

Work for a syndication company or REIT for as long as it takes to gain the knowledge, experience and responsibility to handle the management of a syndicated property on your own.  

But this is very nuanced, and I can certainly think of many syndicators that seem to act more as passive investors than active.  

You are under serious time pressure to buy something and if you don't know what you are doing you can make really bad decisions.The profit-maximizing decision may be to simply sell, even if you have to pay capital gains tax.

People are always looking for ways to generate passive income, but it's often coming from those just starting out, with no experience, and with limited capital.