Even though interest rates are high, we have a big Mircron plant coming here as part of the CHIPS act so that could boost housing demand in the coming years.I don't know the SYR market, but I did a quick search for duplexes somewhat outside of the city, and found this: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/7300-Lakes....

They're $99, rated 4.5 stars and I've never had a problem with one. 

The only other option that comes to mind is to make the improvements and try to achieve favorable rental rates to push the story that 2 BR homes rent for a premium because its unique.

The bank will make you leave 25% equity in the property - but you also still want the property to at least cash flow some - so be careful how much equity you pull out / new debt you take on.I would do a cost benefit analysis of what your actual gain is in cash-flow on buying a new property with a (currently) higher interest rate (if financing), versus just holding on to the current appreciated property and enjoying that cash flow.All the best!

There are many STRs that do quite well in the suburbs of major cityies Off the top of my head, I can think of one of the STRs we manage that is 40 mins outside of Dallas and it has a great occupancy rate.

many houses in the midwest, for example, are very old and need major rehabs.i personally think out of state investing is more difficult than advertised, and much more difficult in the current investing environment, with: prices high; interest rates high; tremendous demand for inventory, by both investors and retail buyers; and good PMs, contractors, etc. booked up.here's a really thoughtful thread with the experience of another CA investor and lots of different responses:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...and here are some threads about how it can very easily go wrong:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...finally, you also said you "don't have a lot of money to start with." 

Further, running a very quick and simple valuation based on $900 rents, 8% vacancy, 25% op exp margin, and a 9% cap rate, I'm coming up with an ARV of around $83k, so I'd pass if I were you unless you can get a much lower purchase price.

When you consider that I only work about 4 hours a week, that breaks down to an hourly rate of just over $1,500 per hour.

They have had 100% occupancy at market rates and currently bring in around $2,000 per month in cash flow.

I've been looking at a lot of smaller towns around Cleveland, Ohio and have noticed there are a lot of seemingly decent cash flow properties, but more around the 1.5-1.8% rate.