[2020] Is investing in estates actually worth it?

From what I can gather from using the estate for a few days, it just looks like a system designed to empty you of either your time or star seeds. Is it worth sticking it out to later estate levels? It's horrendously inefficient as it seems right now. 4 items over 12 hours is beyond unreasonable. Also are alchemy labs just broke or what? It refuses to let me assign my artisan even when I have his required materials.