I have a full time job that pays around 170k excluding stock options (which I would like to retain as a separate investment for now but I am open to use that for real estate if required).

and the low purchase prices often mask major deferred maintenance that can be a surprise - the midwest housing stock is much older than CA, AZ, NV, etc.i'd encourage you to save up for a house hack locally and then house hack while you continue to learn and savegood luck

We recently came to the US, and have around 150k of cash on HYSA and some stocks, that I believe smarter to not sell to have different type of assets for diversification. 

As long as your credit is good you, if your HELOC rates go up, you should be able to rinse/repeat that "0% balance transfer" option every couple years until the debt is paid off.There are alternatives out there as wellLoan on your 401k or IRALoan on your stock accountDown payment assistance programs that provide all or some of the downpayment money.

Maybe stock the house with homemade cookies for the officers too. 

So, buying good quality REITs now is like buying MAG 7 stocks in March 2020 or March 2009.

I have been learning about real estate investing for the past 2 years but recently I’ve started learning about the power of compound interest in the stock market.

That’s about 12.5 years in the stock market at almost 8%.

Dayton has more cash flow - and Columbus has a higher predicted appreciation rate 

in summary all condo/HOA are bad investment except :- if they are located in prestigious location and/or neighborhood- they are relatively new so maintenance cost is low and predictable- they located in the market where DOM for condo is less than 10- they are located in the best school district- or they're located for resort zone/holiday zone.