I've spent the better part of 2024 reading up on those markets and learning everything that I can about REI in general - now it's time to dive in and get to it. :)  I would not consider Cleveland a growth market, but we've certainly got some really cheap properties. 

I feel my money is best spent building a portfolio of cash flowing units.

You have 100/mo x 12 = 1200.You take the cash you have at end of day and divide it by the amount spent and that is CoC. 

The only thing that bests fear is courage and we only need a mustard seed of that to get things going...People often spend money on college and never go in to the field they spent that money on...the greatest lessons and the ones most remembered are learned 'on the job'.Wishing you more good news in the future and an exceptional 2025. 

I have spent the last few years reading many books on real estate, taking real estate courses, researching, saving as much as I could, investing (to increase my purchase power) and finally feel I can begin my real estate journey this year. 

The key difference, though, was he spent months carefully getting to know the local architecs, reputable builders, and even a couple of niche design firms that specialize in modern builds for mid- to high-end buyers.

We even (I still can't believe it) had a person stay in one of our units that is about $350 a night, who bought EVERY SINGLE PACKAGE (Romantic, Birthday, Breakfast, and Pizza/Smores Kit) and spent $1000 in packages alone.

They'll want all the money spent on the main house, lenders kind of ignore ADUs it's weird. 

The process for commercial properties is basically the same as residential properties, so it takes work.Again, echoing Dominic, a good investment is a good investment, whether you spent 8 months courting an owner to get them to sell to you, or whether it is on CBRE/Cushman/Marcus/Loopnet or any other brokerage website.  

I've spent the last 3 years nagging the city to sell me a lot next to my property so I can install a driveway and they've finally agreed.