So is planting a ticket oak. :) As mentioned above that is just not going to happen.

Chipped and started to show wear and tear in the first couple weeks!

Awesome job you can't even see it but the floor  it was only about 2 feet.I have something like this joint in my house where two floors butt up against each other and they are oak but the location it is very noticeable so you might find it detracts from your  reno.

BBQ sauce, pickles, chips, etc all made in Birmingham.  

The only concern is that buying a single-family home may not be a good option given that we want to chip away at a good majority of the monthly mortgage payments through rental income, which is why we're considering a house hack.

I can speak a Lot about Palm Coast as I personal own Duplexes, and manage other investor properties in Palm Coast and why I like it for long term strategy.I'll start off with Citrus Springs and areas in the greater Ocala area such as Marion Oaks.

“At full buildout, the total investment in the site could grow to as much as $100 billion over the next decade, making it one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing sites in the world,” reads Intel’s press release. https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/22/22895447/intel-ohio-chip-fab-manufacturing-cpu-processor-explained The market here is booming and out of state investors are flocking here because of the price to rent ratio. 

This would entail painting, remove carpet and put down floor, probably oak look LVP for snow durability, new bathroom vanity and fixtures, new kitchen(its very small, think like 4 lower cabinets and 2 upper cabinets plus counter of course).

Cicero's reputation could be affecting the quality of properties, so branching out to nearby suburbs like Berwyn or Oak Park might open up better opportunities.

To give a little information it’s a duplex, each side is one bed-one bath, completely remodeled in 2016 with new kitchens bathrooms, oak hardwoods.