Of note, I am already doing STR and MTR in other markets and this property is fully furnished and listed in several places for my ideal tenant.

Holding onto these properties would be most ideal for your long term wealth, obviously.

You can probably find an online link about how extreme temperature changes are not the ideal way to heat a home and cost more in the long run.I don't know what the local rental rules are where you are, but look them up and see if you can give her notice. 

What some ideal way to find investors to fund this deal?

If you can wait until you have legal status that would be ideal, but may not be absolteuly necessary if you want to get a jump on things. 

Or it's generally not ideal?

If you can live for free and only pay utilities AND buy an investment property, that would be ideal in terms of savings and cash flow.If you can't stay and your parents want to make some money on that property, then yes, house hacking would be your best option especially since you don't want the best place in the multi.

However, I have no idea how to choose from the remaining cities, it seems there are a lot of potential options:- Midwest - Michigan (ie: Grand Rapids) seems to have options, also seeing Columbus Ohio and Indianapolis coming up- Reno - I've seen mentioned several times on here- Pittsburgh / Philadelphia / Twin Cities - All mentioned as lower cost to get started, and seem to be experiencing growthI'd ideally like to find a place that has strong potential for future growth, a diversified economy, and I don't mind living in (being close to nature would be a plus). 

My parents live in a small town in Ohio so I might start there, but at the moment I’m just trying to build connections to find good markets, and from there deals ideally.

Ideally, I’d learn by doing and would appreciate the opportunity to work with a mentor to help me get started.Any advice or direction is greatly appreciated!