They require all cash to buy so the people there have money.

I would rent both units out and should get $350 in passive cash flow. 

I'm hesitant to give up my conventional loans on the next cash out refinance for DSCR loans.

although we bought about 6 years ago or so for 270 put 100k into it so you can do the math  no debt .. hoa 400  we pay utls. 200 or so.. so 600 a month out of the 3500.. tax's about 1500 a year ( got to love Vegas taxs ) value today right at 600k.. so lets say we net about 33k a year on 370k cash .. so not bad little under 10% COC with an outstanding tenant one of the best I have ever had.PS given tenant quality we manage ourselves.. 

I think an investor can find a nice property there that will cash flow and potentially appreciate.My issue is that the OP mentions that she disqualified Baltimore because the city had a declining population but was still considering Cleveland and Toledo.From my brief research Cincinnati and Columbus both have had population increases.

Hi Max, I can speak about the Columbus Ohio market (as this is the market I specialize in) but yes, there is strong competition here and there are obviously some cash buyers and they will always have a slight advantage.

So its either all cash, findings those needle-in-a-haystack lenders, or would need to be some other creative structure

We are not too strapped for cash, but it always seems better to have more in the bank than less.

In terms of my goals, I concentrate/focus on three metrics (and cash flow isn't one of them because that can be manipulated). 

It's the cash you put in that's your cost for the property.