I've seen a handful of condos in the MLS this week that have had price decreases so hopefully (for me anyway, lol) that's a trend that continues into next year when I'm ready to buy and not just a couple of outliers.

Regarding your growth note, I did see that NE ohio some of the population is decreasing.

Keep in mind that some improvements and renovations you have made over the years will likely increase your basis in the property and decrease you capital gains.Make sure you find a CPA who specializes in real estate, rather than someone who works with all industries.

You will generally see a 70% decrease in premium with the certificate.

Also, a broker we are talking to said we easily qualify financially but her underwriter will require us to 1) move out of our townhome first into a temporary month to month rental, and 2) rent out our townhouse first and 3) then show the underwriter the 1-year minimum lease to satisfy them that we are not going to commit fraud and not move into the duplex. 

I've been watching my local rental and housing market closely over the last 6 months (btwn Den and CS) and can't help but get the impression that there may just be a temporary investor/rental glut at this time.

If you pay less than the assessed value, the property taxes should decrease the following year, but not the year that you purchase the property.

I think there are some online banks that have nice returns but for me I’m not really trying to have a savings account generating interest at a bank but rather in real estate and the money in the bank is only a temporary holding spot

Maybe get a temporary place in the one that seems the most desirable, but then take some time to explore others while you are out here. 

However if we were to wait and use 5K of cash flow instead to pay for something after 1 year of renting, would that decrease the "estimated repairs" number to $20K in that calculator or would it make no difference whether it's cash from the business or personal cash out of pocket as far as the cash on cash return calculation is concerned?