I have heard good things about Ohio, Indiana, etc.5 - Due to high interest rates flipping has become highly risky and most businesses have dried up.6 - Co-living and Assisted living seems to be popular right now.So - really depends on your market, your strategy, and your timeline.

I care most about the Internal Rate of Return (helps me determine how long to hold a property), the cash on cash return (helps me decide why this investment vs other options, and it also takes into consideration appreciation of the property!)

So I have my house that refinanced in 2020 for a 15yr 2.5% rate and we have about 56k equity.

Increase the occupancy rate to 80% or higher over the next 12 monthsto increase the value.

No - absolute max for DSCR is 85% LTV and that is extremely rare and typically not workable in this rate environment anyways.Standard/common max is 80% (acquisition and rate-term refinances) and 75% Cash-Out Refis

Unfortunately, given current and foreseeable prices and interest rates, I will not be in the position to buy anything else anywhere I’d want to go. 

Rent rates have increased so quickly over the last few years.

Naturally, they are your competition and the daily rates need to be taken into account.

As you go on your real estate journeySomething I would recommend for you is this website. https://www.areavibes.com/Use this rating and classification system I have created over time to get an idea of the "Class" for the area - A class B class & so onHere is my rating & classification for each livability score.80 and above A+78/79 A76/77 A-74/75 B+72/73 B70/71 B-68/69 C+66/67 C64/65 C-60/63 D59 and below F

If the answer is yes, then it's a no brainer to make minimum payments on your 2.8% interest rate mortgage, and use the funds that you would have paid extra to pay it down faster, to either invest in more real estate, the market, or anywhere else where you can get a ROI > 2.8%.If the answer is no, then feel free to aggressively pay it down as fast as possible, to become debt-free faster, and just have a large amount of money in savings or to splurge with.The bottom line is that your 2.8% mortgage is GOOD debt.