The continued victories of paying off progressively larger debts will fuel your desire to keep paying them off and you will have increased success.

After that you will have more experience to confidently invest in an OOS market like Ohio

On the other hand, if you are looking to use some form of commercial financing or a Debt-Service loan, other properties do increase your desirability. 

The listing agent said that if we wanted to improve our offer, that now was the time.I increased my offer to $786k CASH, given the excellent condition of the house.

So a PM company and a lawyer should suffice, the listing agent can do both transactions and it'll increase the likelihood of the deal going through.

On a market level, I'd want to filter down to properties of a specific size so I can confidently deduct estimated cleaning costs.Overall, I think you're right to consider looking at sub-markets near the target markets on the AirDNA report.

It is possible for people to self-manage these remotely but unless you've already managed a short-term rental, there could be a steep learning curve.

New Bern is largely a quiet area, has a bit of a higher density of Violent/Property Crimes than surrounding areas, but that's to be expected as soon as population density increases. 

Increase your down payment?

This price difference is primarily due to the increased costs of materials and labor since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.