I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years.

Commercial Revenue Generating properties like office buildings, apartment buildings, retail centers, etc (banks call it "CRE" lending) are typically evaluated from their net operating income, not gross.

If so, you'll need to figure out why you're not making money - is it other operating inefficiencies or your debt terms?

If it's currently an STR they should be able to provide you with the p/l statement from prior years so you can see gross rents, operating expenses, average daily rates and occupancy levels.

I will say that even though you get the boost from VRBO and AirBNB, the first year of operation is usually lean as you build up the rep.Offering a discount on the stay is a way to be more attractive but don't go crazy.

I'm especially interested in hearing about how you've made a PMS geared more toward STRs work with MTR billing and leasing.I do remote operations support for an MTR/LTR company in Denver and am assisting with our tech stack build out. 

The other is a smaller operation which does a lot of business in the specific neighborhood the house is in.  

I’m in Ohio, so I can purchase a property with $40k cash out, invest $10k in repairs, and rent for a couple hundred above the monthly operating costs.

This approach will help preserve your operating capital.

Hence if the lease clearly has terms against this and section 8 is supporting the rent, that is your best bet to ensure the tenant complies with the lease.