Need help weighing pros and cons of next step of my investing

[Baron Wheeler]

I currently have a rental house in Woodland Park, Co that we have owned for 6 years and have rented for the past 3 years. The house is paid off and was purchased for around $350k and current value is around $500-$550k. We are renting it for $2050 a month and our take home after property tax and insurance is around $1500 which is a little low for the area but have had the same renters for 3 years and have been good to us.

We want to grow our rental portfolio and seeing costs of houses in the Midwest and the rental rates they are getting it seems we could sell our house and close to double our rent in places like Ohio. Buying more houses in our area is out of the question I think since entry houses are around $400k and we do not have that much cash available for another down payment in our area.

My question is would we be better selling our house and investing in multiple houses in the Midwest or am I missing something that is going to end up being a break even investing out of state?

Seems property management is going to cost 8-10% and it’s scary to not be able to check on the properties or contractors easily.

Our goal is to create a steady income in the next roughly 10 years, between now and then I need to take home atleast $1500 a month to cover the house payment I live in but obviously more the better. I think focusing on appreciation of the property at this phase and the. Transitioning to cash flow in 10 years is the best strategy just not sure the best route to achieve this.