What I did was buy a single-family home down the street from me which didn't need any renovations (although it did end up needing some cleaning). 

That's not a trivial amount of money, but it won't leave you on the streets when you're retirement age.You got this!

My neighbor down the street told me the court wouldn’t take his paperwork due to the city and state eviction moratoriums.

On the contrary, my agent said that the whole street is not really good and Akron is not really doing a lot in the area.I am now planning to go to Akron and look for myself.

That magical piece of paper we all call a lease, is really mostly a one way street.

I don't need a complete virtual assistant, just a street address and box.  

Now it’s probably the Midwest,But my the time you get to the Midwest and establish a footprint and “street credibility” with the brokers and sellers another market may be strong.If you are going to invest out of area, you will need to spend “face to face” “boots on the ground time” there.

Mine, yours, the one down the street.

Use Google Street Scene.

Quote from @Andrew Street: Hey there Kevin!