Most places in Ohio can be profitable rentals... if you can stomach those property taxes!

Pretty much think of a commercial loan process as a residential loan process backwards.Lenders do go off the income of the property, but they also do check out the purchaser...3 years tax returns and a personal financial statement. 

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

Since part of your property is a rental, I believe a portion of your mortgage interest should be a tax deduction unlike your other debt.

Any specific neighborhoods you recommend looking into—or areas to avoid?

Any tax pro who is familiar with REI will be able to help you.

Honest... not great but we had other tax reasons to get into them.   

If you were able to increase the value of the property significantly after the rehab, then you could bring the deal to a community bank  to refinance and take the hard money lender out.You keep all the equity and don’t have to file a partnership return for your annual tax return, which can be costly.  

There are two reasons this is a bad idea.Investing with an SDIRA (assuming it is not a Roth) will often result in paying significantly more taxes. 

The sellers you are dealing with in these situations don't deal with prorating Taxes, or any other kind of prorations, that is what an escrow agent does.