May as well draw the parallel that nobody should invest in real estate because SWIM bought a house in 07 and was underwater shortly thereafter

of course it is, no one's swimming across oceans to get into China, nor India, nor Russia, nor Saudi Arabia, and why not?

A good place to start would be your local real estate investment club.

@Terrance Coleman congratulations, you are officially now part of the 6% club. 

If you go into a DST as an option you want it stable and predictable otherwise might as well look at value add with higher cash flow potential and equity upside.Example if I am looking at  Sams Club to buy all cash for 12 million with my raise that is absolute NNN at 7 cap.

Soon, there will be a ton of posts below from agents in Columbus and Cleveland to "help" you, but you already know where you want to be.I wouldn't be thinking STR for Ohio unless you are doing woodsy, which can work, but the table stakes are high on those (swimming holes, saunas, game rooms, hot tubs).

I've stayed in Cancun at the Club Med when going there with a group of friends but we never left the resort and I think most visitors (the many I've met at least) are in the same boat.

You can also check meetup.com or search Facebook for real estate investment groups, clubs, or meetings in your area. 

Your best bet might be joining a local real estate club.  

Welcome to the cool-kids club :)I agree with Allen above.