City Wide property mgt is who I deal with and honestly when I ask for real numbers and updates I get a lot of BS run around sales talk speech. 

Open Floor Plans: The design of these homes features open layouts that feel larger and more spacious than they actually are, making them ideal for entertaining and day-to-day living.8.

Most of my clients run their SFRs at a 25%-30% (excluding vacancy/credit loss) operating expense margin and most of the banks I deal with on their DSCR loans underwrite using 35%.

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.

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.

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. 

Or it's generally not ideal?

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). 

These hotels are almost all ideally located right on the strip, and loaded with amenities like room service, restaurants, bars, and casinos.