Especially in today's interest rate environments. 

Standalone brick and mortars like compass are the ones that are burning through money and taking it from the agent and customer it is very hard for compass to survive in those environment, as company like as big as amazon or apple move to hybrid work environment, the compass failed to grasp the spirit hence their transaction cost is so high.

It took me about seven years to be able to quit my job as an engineer.This was mainly from buying inexpensive properties from motivated sellers for cash.Buying nice STR's with leverage is a much longer game especially this environment. 

@Dominique Coffin,This is much more common in our current interest rate environment. 

I was a warm body in a model home selling spec homes in what turned out to be, in retrospect, a really crazy real estate environment.

Permanent rate buy down is not that great IMO, especially in a high rate environment when a lot of people will refi within 1-2 years of owning the home if/when rates come down.Temporary rate buy downs are great right now - The seller funds a 2-1 temporary rate buy down. 

Columbus may offer lower purchase prices, but as you mentioned, oversaturation from investors could affect rental rates and appreciation in the long term.Considering your interest in Philadelphia's vibe and your desire for a potentially better investment environment, it seems like Philadelphia aligns well with your preferences and investment goals. 

Financially it's almost always better to leverage but less so in higher interest rate environments when there are good investment alternatives, and not everything in life is or should be done for purely financial reasons. 

I'd agree @Marcus Auerbach RE investment is safer to store money than it is to make money in the current environment.

I like pay all cash with the raise and then you can exit at optimal time of the cycle because you do not have the lender or banking situation environment causing potential waves with your investment.