The property had significant upside potential as it was priced below market value and required mostly cosmetic updates.

The reason people do sub2 is to get around this requirement and not notify the lender they are transferring the asset.

However (to go into detail requires a separate post), that's not quite the correct course either.

Lastly, if I was able to get this home at that price below market, are there loan options that require little to know money down, since it is at/below the 85% LTV?

If the owner does not meet that residency requirement, another human being must be identified as the local agent in charge.

It may require more work, more analysis and more time, but if you can find one great passive investment, I bet you can find 5 or 10.  

In terms of selling a property, parts of Cleveland require a POS (Point of Sale) Inpsection, but I'm not too familiar with what all that entails.

How Ford’s BlueOval City Project Impacts Real Estate: A Setback and Opportunity for InvestorsFord’s massive BlueOval City project, a planned $5.6 billion electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing campus in Stanton, Tennessee, is a game-changer for the region.

Full disclosure, I'm not a disaster expert, politician or climate alarmist, but according to those fighting fires on the California coast since the 1960's, Devil Winds are natural occurrences each and every decade but require highly conducive conditions to be as destructive. 

Buyer's agency agreements were already required here before, our regulatory agency just went from strongly recommending them be signed right away but not really requiring them until writing a contract to 100% requiring them to be signed prior to showings.