As I stated above, please exercise caution and make sure fully executed documents are received prior to wiring funds.

I would suggest looking into private financing options.

Regarding your mastermind idea...I strongly suggest you come to our Chicago meetup this coming Saturday...we switched up to a mastermind format, and if you like it, we could figure out a way to partner up and start a suburb version.Here is a link to the meetup:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/1230572-chic...RSVP'd thanks for the heads up🙂 

Just need to spend a year somewhere I may have no desire to live.Hybrid Plan:Keep researching out-of-state markets and act if a great deal appears.Move back to LA, live in Airbnbs in to get a feel for neighborhoods (open to suggestions), and house hack once I find a deal.Would love to hear from those who’ve house-hacked in LA or NYC or started with out-of-state rentals—what would you do in my shoes?

The upward trend of those orders suggests there is a WAVE of REOs coming.

Who's suggesting they'd be relocating to Cleveland?

Ebooks, podcasts like @Bonnie Low suggested and start running numbers on every deal you see until you know how it all works.

I would suggest you hire an inspector as well as have a general contractor go out to the property.

any suggestions on how I should compare these 2 options?

Would anyone be willing to share some suggestions that I could use as a foundation?