I suggest reading this BP article on the core 4.https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-team

I have been looking at Article and West Elm's contract grade options. 

You can find videos/articles online on how to get the basement dry, but the basic process is: 1) turn off all electric to the basement (to avoid electrocution from the water), 2) run pumps to get the standing water out of the basement (sounds like you're already doing this)3) remove all furniture and items from the basement,4) once you've pumped out the standing water from the basement, rent a wet/dry carpet cleaner/extractor from home depot, and use it to extract as much water as possible from the carpets (they'll be much lighter and easier to move once you get the water out). 5) After you've used the carpet extractor to get most of the water out of the carpet, remove all carpet and get it out of the house for drying (if you're trying to salvage the carpets), or throw the carpet out.

This article lists the areas had the highest percentage increase in the past five years. https://fox8.com/news/these-cleveland-area-cities-have-the-f...

Refer to the article see if it an enjoyment like time share or a true investment.

Here's an article I wrote a few years back:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/402958-investors---are-you-a-c-class-landlordBrad

BiggerPockets allows you to turn a great post like this into a blog article and then you can post a link to the article when the topic is revisited.

I’ve read an article from fortune.com stating that renting is now cheaper than owning in Americas 50 largest metro areas.

So if cash flow is a big part of your goal I'd likely be looking outside your immediate market.Based on an BP article about best housing markets according to the Housing Market Indices Denver is the best market.

A read some articles that some rents may still be taxable which is fine.