If you live in a no income tax state it is reasonable and there are plenty of choices, if you live in a high tax state like CA it doesn't matter and may actually be better to also invest in a high tax state because you get credit for taxes paid to other states on your state income taxes.However there may be better deals in states that do have taxes but you'll be fine with or without them.

I was fined for over $400 for using garage as storage.

Some down sides to a vacation rental as a newbie investor are:- Large 20-25% down payment- Management heavy, maybe even 30% of Rent-You don't have as much controlIm a big believer in starting out local, getting your hands dirty a bit, learning the basics, then fine tuning your investment criteria and strategy. 

Numbers weren’t perfect from the start, but I was fine with paying for an education on this.I’m pretty disappointed, as this was going to be my first BRRRR and I was excited to gain experience.

@Gil Keren - I was in Lawrence Twp two days ago and the area I went to seemed totally fine.

However, several of my out of state clients buy turnkey properties and they cash flow just fine.

Now the deferred maintenance is it has to be fined or could be done with future cash flows?  

Can these interior cracks be fixed with some drywall compound, a fine-grit sanding sponge, and some sweat equity, OR are these a symptom of larger structural issues?

It's perfectly fine however to purchase property that you rent to family. 

I might start with all tenants responsible for their own garbage/recycling while further exploring a small dumpster and while I appreciate that most tenants should be fine being responsible with their garbage I have one tenant that I know will not and she could cause a huge issue.