Given your goals, Indy could be a great fit—affordable pricing, solid appreciation, and strong Section 8 demand with reliable property management options.

My answer is: Invest in the market you know best.Within Dayton, there surely are decent neighborhoods to invest in.

Creative and thank you for sharing, I'm sure this will help a lot of people in the same predicament. 

I'm not sure your cash flow is accurate.

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And mercifully, building wealth is a more important goal than the cash flow, to be sure.

Just start and make sure you buy the RIGHT property.

These areas have affordable entry points, diverse housing stock, and steady demand.

Make sure you talk to a Banker or Loan officer that is well versed in both SE (Self Employed) income and also Non/QM programs.One tip I will give you as a Banker is open up a "Business Checking account" and for the next 12 months pay "Everything" out of that account. 

You could also get a line of credit for about $150k (you should be able to borrow 75% of the value.)The reason I suggest this is…1) you save $40-$60k in selling costs. 2) you have a lower blended interest rate (2/3rds at 3.25% and 1/3rd at 7 or 8% instead of the whole $500k at 7 or 8%) saving you another $1k/mo in interest. 3) you only pay interest on that $150k when you actually use it, not from day 1  Unless you hate this property, or want to buy something you can’t afford without selling, that would be my plan.