Ultimately you can only hold it down so far and the government will eventually get their money. 

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

Our Recommendation: This decision is ultimately up to you.

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

For more info on Cleveland you'll want to read The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods.

After a bit more research, I actually think renting a place will get me started faster and earn some experience doing Airbnb with a little less risk involved.Obviously I still need to be concerned about not violating a lease agreement by doing so and I would likely live on the property and lot or all the time.Ownership is still the ultimate goal, but this looks a faster party to self driven income.

Ultimately, it’s about finding an arrangement that aligns with your goals without compromising your ability to discover the best deals.

R&D is like split testing, trial and error is "I'll be damned to spend the time investing in knowledge so let's just hope we survive the guessing". 

Of course, if the ultimate plan is to run it as an STR, then it has to be analyzed through that lens. 

Ultimately, consulting with a real estate focused accountant is the move here, but this should be a helpful primer.