Many Realtors will suggest purchasing a property using a FHA Loan, to reduce your out of pocket money.

Quality and risk in Cleveland and Akron neighborhoods will vary widely.

Build - rent - refinance -repeat. in columbus ohio you are buying old houses that are 1900 or 1920 or 1940 and you are in a sellers market. on the other hand you can source land which is a buyers market and build single family homes or duplex or triplexes that will return by renting and pulling cash out on a DSCR loan and doing it again. there aren't a lot of strategies that do this. flipping is different. so many risks. but when someone has a well oiled machine it's all good and less risk.

I would, If in this position, take the equity in the form of a HELOC and purchase a cash flowing asset that would not only pay for itself but pay for the cost of the money while putting cash into my bank account each month. 

@Wiley HoodYes, there're risks:1.

A lot of hosts I know use pool fences, safety signs, and provide life jackets to help reduce risk.

Quote from @Michael Challenger: I have no qualms with hard money lending, but I need to learn more about the process and structure to these for typical deals so that I am more comfortable and in a position to reduce my personal risk and risk to investors as much as possible.

At this point, I would recommend having a line of credit to cover these things so you don't have money sitting in the bank doing nothing when it could be put to work.I have 33 units, no debt except for mortgages, and excellent income.

#3 Sell and invest elsewhere.Condos add risk. 

Quote from @Doug Teasdale: Quote from @Dustin Tucker: Hello Doug,  Here is the Arizona Association of Realtors Forms page.https://www.aaronline.com/manage-risk/sample-forms/residenti...You will probably need to use the Residential Resale Contract.For the Buyer as an example use "Doug Teasdale and/or assigns"  This allows you to assign the contract to your wholesale buyer.