I think I misunderstand DTI for rental incomes.My DTI goes up with a cashflow positive rental ($2000 expense and $3,500 income).

Cleveland and Dayton can be great markets for high cash flow and low purchase prices, but you need to be careful when navigating the neighborhoods so you're not buying in a D/F class area where no property managers will manage and where you'll never see any positive cash flow.

My interest rate and purchase price wouldn’t allow for positive cash flow unless I charged an unreasonable rent—or put about $500K toward the principal, which isn't ideal.I’m a high earner, so I’m weighing my options:Take the loss ($60K-$100K), buy another house, and chalk this up to a hard lesson learned.Refinance, put more money into it, and rent it out long-term—even if it’s not immediately profitable.Invest my money elsewhere and try to make peace with staying here for several years.Would love to hear thoughts from anyone with experience in real estate, financial strategy, or noise mitigation.

Crime and Tenant Quality: With the higher crime rate in 76104, how much impact could this have on tenant retention and turnover?

and again, likely to be in a challenging neighborhood.i would wait.sorry, i know that's not what you want to hear, but it sounds like you've done a ton of great work to build yourself into a stronger financial position. 

I think you're going to have a hard time finding MF properties that give you positive CF using a PM in most of Phoenix. 

Ohio is a great market to be invested into as you can still find positive cash flow (aka the 1% rule) and tons of appreciation here!

That being said, rental rates are remaining fairly strong, and with such an equitable position in your property, your cash flow should remain a positive net to you. 

The Long term, after some reserves, I'd like to bring down the assessment costs since I worry that this will negatively impact the property value. 

With some changes to the management structure and leadership, I believe we can significantly increase the revenue potential while providing a positive impact.