Best area for first duplex purchase in Midwest Ohio?

[Jonathan Steiger]

My fiancé and I are looking to do a house hack. We are looking to buy a duplex in the next month or two to start our real-estate investing journey. We plan to probably live in one unit and rent out the other to get our feet wet and learn the business. We currently do travel healthcare, butte will probably stop shortly once we buy our first duplex. We also thought about buying and renting both units out, however, to do that we would need more capital as you need to be 25-30% down.

Right now we are trying to figure out the best neighborhood in Midwest Ohio to buy. We have looked at about 7 duplexes in Piqua, OH. We have also considered Sidney, Troy, Dayton etc. My fiancé is from Lima, OH, and I am from a little town called St. Henry, OH. For our first duplex, we want to buy relatively close to where we grew up since we will be living in one unit. Another reason we intend to buy close is that if we do decide to continue traveling, family can help out with upkeep etc. We would love some feedback from anyone who invests in any of these areas of Ohio.

Also- we are beginning to explore financing options. Has anyone had success with any of the OHFA programs on myohiohome.org? We are interested in Renovate Ohio, but we have heard it’s a pain and interest rates are bad. Another program we screened into is the “grants for grads.” If anyone has any good/bad experiences and/or success with any of these programs, we would appreciate the feedback.

Any other tips, suggestions, or advice for new real-estate investors welcome! We would love and appreciation any suggestions for our situation.

Thanks!

Britt and Jon