I have a STR in the Sullivan County and have been looking for a cleaner but the options seems to be limited in this area. 

Most lenders are going to be limited to 70% of ARV ($560,000 total loan amount) but that means they could fund 85% or a bit higher of purchase price + rehab ($560,000/$645,000 = 86.8%), which is solid.

I own properties in Canton right now but I want to expand north up to the Akron market.

.- Many of these HCOL areas also have strict limitations on AirBnB or short-term rentals... that do not apply to owner-occupants - thus allowing for extreme cashflow potential for house-hackers.

Lancaster city limits short term rentals to only certain zones of the city so definitely look at the city website for that information.

But I would have the HELOC paid off.

Common problem, no easy answer:(We try to allow our owner clients to arrange their own maintenance, but have learned the hard way there MUST be limitations:1) They can't hire our people!

Quote from @Sam Evrard: How do you go about finding areas to invest in with limited capital? 

Staying in one market can limit long-term growth.For example, in my case, while we currently manage investments in Europe, I am evaluating the possibility of investing in the U.S. soon.

I don't know your living situation but if your paying x,xxx for rent or a mortgage and instead by living in one side and renting out the other you will be paying y,yyy instead and y is less then x that's great, especially if you can rent out your primary residence and make income there too.