And now after a year, the utilities are eating up my income.

Akron is a very blue city and are not very landlord friendly - source of income protections, etc... 

This requires an income that allows you to maintain your standard of living throughout your life.

The debt to rent income is fantastic, but I understand if the city is not growing.

My wife and I have overhauled our personal budget to reflect the 'pay yourself first' approach (allocate in order: income comes in -> invest -> donate -> fixed expenses -> variable expenses -> fun $$).We are looking to see what experienced people generally recommend for a holding tank for that 'invest' allocation while we target our first real estate deal.What financial vehicles have you guys used that works well for this?

Last thought (mainly for future readers), you may be talking about the 1 year FHA history if you have variable income.

Larger brokerages sometimes are in need of administrative work, which could earn you a steady income while also getting exposure to the field. 

And this low demand could be a couple of factors, either a rural location with low population density or the area incomes are not high enough in order to prevent a rent burdened scenario. 

As the cleaning company continues to grow, I am looking to invest in real estate to create more passive income. 

If you need current income, I'd recommend another fix/flip.