However, the ones we viewed were expensive, needed renovations, and would have been a long commute for my son. 

I have even seen twice city inspectors walk buildings for other issues that have illegal basement units and as long as unit looks like a legal unit (normal ceiling height and two egresses) they didn't even say anything. 

Does anyone have any experience working with Dan Housing or CRS (Catastrophic Response Services) for Medium Term Rentals?

If you can build fro around 200-250k per unit, it may seem attractive, depending on time frame, debt terms, and the ability to achieve 2k per month in rent.Great product to build.

In terms of living in Columbus, it's affordable and the nice thing is you can be pretty much anywhere in 20-30 minutes. 

But right now because you waited so long this is the best It can be. 

In terms of REPS, this can indeed be a valuable strategy for offsetting your W-2 income.

Short-term rental data specialist Mashvisor released its list of Best 100 Cities for Airbnb Rental Income and considered some key metrics in its decision-making.

For example, this deal does not seem to "fit" based on the 70% rule calculator which was new to us.3.Any suggestions on how we could negotiate better terms with either the bank or real estate agents?

So absolutely viable if - like you mentioned you can get creative in terms of financing the deal.