House hacking is a great way to get started.

Welcome to the community and be ready for a huge amount of information at your finger tips.

I think it’s crazy that they travel so far, nice but great. 

and again, likely to be in a challenging neighborhood.i would wait.sorry, i know that's not what you want to hear, but it sounds like you've done a ton of great work to build yourself into a stronger financial position. 

The local who lives there but commutes 30-60 min to another community because they can’t find a job to support their family in their town.That same local knows that a 4plex would be great on that lot that’s been vacant for 20 years and that there are at least 4 families who could benefit greatly from that development.That local knows that Ryan’s plumbing and Katie’s electrical companies that service 75% of the town really needs a new flex space to use as a shop, storage, and parking for their business so that they aren’t working out of their garage and can hire a couple of locals to work with them at the office and in the field.Development is different in our small towns but if locals aren’t the ones doing it, and developers aren’t coming, what happens to our kids futures?

Great stuff @Michael Johnson! 

.- You mentioned this sale is tax free 121 exclusion, which is great, and seems like a solid start to your goal.- The townhouse you're moving into is currently a rental, but you plan to live there two years for the 121 exclusion.

If you live in a high cost of living area, investing in more affordable out-of-state markets can be a great strategy.

A couple of years ago, I worked with an investor who never updated the contact information for the loan and the Bank call the seller (ex-wife), that day she was mad at her ex-husband and told the bank her ex allowed someone to steal their property from them and they got no money, she was kicked out of her house and there were strange people living there.This could all have been avoided if the investor did this process correct.Get educated, also I do not know your attorney but not many attorneys have the knowledge to do this process correctly. 

Cleveland, Ohio is a great market to focus on for cash flow and specific pockets have gone up 2x and upwards of 4x in the last 5-10 years even!