You mention going on title and taking over the loan - is there an existing mortgage?

I also invest in the Indianapolis metro area and had similar problems to what you mentioned in Ohio.

As you mention the reality is there are very few sellers who will do seller financing and my guess is its probably around 1%.

My allocation I mentioned above is purely what I would do based on my current financial situation.  

IMO, only worth it if you have access to enough capital to scale your efforts, though.Can't be compared.To do well in the lending game, in addition to controlling your risk and what others have mentioned, you need... 

Like others mentioned sub $150-180k doesn't seem worth it, especially in blue states. 

What is the new property tax law that you mentioned? 

Every system you try will have flaws, or you may salivate over a feature that appears in other software.Some familiar names are mentioned frequently: Stessa, Apartments.com, RentRedi, TenantCloud, Innago, RentManager, Avail, Rentec Direct, Doorloop, etc.I recommend conducting thorough research on each app online to understand their offerings, pricing, etc.

One thing I would mention though - doing STR just to save taxes often leaves you operationally unstable or too detached from the management to be successful.

I mention to them that I would be interested in their house if they ever think of selling it.