We have multiple single family rentals in Cahokia Heights that we purchased about 1-1/2 years ago. 

Welcome to Bigger Pockets and love see local folks getting into real estate investing!

Love to hear how it goes.

I love that you have specific goals for 2025 - I believe if we think it, write it, say it, and share it our goals are 10x more likely to come to fruition.Are you able to do option 2 and just house hack a 2-4 unit building and use a renovation loan which allows you to put down 3.5-5%I highly suggest getting to some local chicago meetup groups (we have an in person one on the 17th)...here is BPs list: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521-real-estate-events-...I also have a full list of the chicago meetups that I can share with you too if that'd be helpful.

I’d love to hear more about your experiences over the years.We are specifically looking to purchase single-family homes in the $80,000–$150,000 range and are considering renting them through Section 8.

I'd love to look at the layout

house hack in some sort of fashion.Either buy a duplex or large single family that you can rent out a room/side of the houseOr buy a fixer upper in the best neighborhood you can afford. 

I love his story about overcoming drug addiction and building a rehab, I guess I’m a sap lol, but it’s good to know it’s not worth the money!  

I would love to receive referrals for loan officers here in Knoxville.

The Midwest has not one thing that is overly amazing, but it scores reasonably well in every single category.