4o Hi Monty, I Live 15 minutes from the freeport area with building and flipping experience.

Hey Chelsea,I’m originally from Washington too, and I actually lived in Milwaukee for 4 years during grad school!

Since STR “lives” on reviews, being “right” because of the contract the guests signed might be the most expensive “right” you’ve ever experienced.So what’s left for the “wanna be” STR investor in today’s market?  

,I have sold and been managing properties that are near the MIA and haven't had any complaints from residents who are living in them.

Now you see how expensive dining and living rooms are that could be converted. 

I live in California (Central Coast) and have built a 12-door portfolio in Detroit, which has been a great market for both cash flow and long-term potential.Detroit still offers properties well below the $150k mark, with strong rent-to-price ratios and a market that’s seeing growth in key areas.

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.

But this was an awesome opportunity for me because this is my first living situation where I will be on my own (and getting used to paying a rent/mortgage) but this will put my overall mortgage on a 400k house at roughly $2000 a month for the first year!

@Isaac TerryIn terms of it being worthwhile, just like most other markets out of state if the barrier or entry is too high where you live, the landlord laws are not favorable where you live, and you are looking for positive cashflow then Cleveland can be a good option.

Living in top unit and renting out the bottom.