The plan is to purchase a new home & keep current as a long term rental.

If you were renting to an only a couple as a long term tenant and they beat each other up (domestic violence) your liability is minimal.  

North Linden, South of Main, Vassor Village, Woodland Park, MT Vernon, Milo-Grogan, Franklinton, Merrion Village, Hungarian Village, Southern Orchards, Driving Park, Olde Towne East, Franklin Park, King Lincoln, Old Oaks, Livingston Park are all but not limited to some areas in Columbus, Ohio I think will gentrify quickly and make for great long term buy and holds.

In that scenario - I would worry that our long term renters would not like that strangers are walking up their steps and entering the doorway 5ft from their front door every weekend. 

Mean while i would be building equity, and if rates do lower, or when the term ends, could refi for better rates and then maybe cash flow.My questions are:Is this too naively optimistic?

The term Certified Broker is intentionally deceptive in my view. 

IF you have super strong income and you and have a lower 1st lien, lots of equity - MAYBE your best bet is using a local bank or CU to get most competitive HELOC inv terms.

On long-term rentals the bank likes to see signed leases which clearly you can't have with STR. 

I am interested in learning all I can about Long Term and Short Term Rentals. 

Find one that can be custom to your needs, has flexible pricing, no long-term, high-cost memberships, and excellent customer services to determine how to best market to your leads.If you would like a referral code or more information please let me know :)