I am the Vice President of OmniKey Realty, and I would highly recommend scheduling a tour with my investment team if you haven't already done so.

My wife is a wizard with interior design so we make a great team.All of that is wonderful, but what's next.   

You didn't provide any numbers so can't answer if it's a good deal.

I reside in FL, so I would like to purchase in neighboring states if possible, but I heard Ohio is a great market.   

You want to have your financial house in order so you know what you CAN afford and what you SHOULD spend.

I would suggest taking the route of option 2 or 3, so not only are you saving over 10k in rent per year but the residents help in paying down the debt.

Add another $300 or so for taxes and insurance and you're at $2465 PITI. 

The most successful loans are those that do not procrastinate and get the appraisers In ASAP so you can get over any unexpected bump in the underwriting process.

I do like the built in leasing that apartments offers over the OG Cozy site, but I don't really want to pigeon hole myself into the apartments.com brand (or Zillow, or any other of the type) so I'm starting to use rent redi.

So, if you create an LLC in another state, you will likely need to register it as a foreign LLC in California.