Living in top unit and renting out the bottom.

A lot of the top places have seasonality issues so don't let it scare you.

Now I'm hit with a very expensive legal bill on top of it all.

I'm glad it's saved you money, that's great that you got some use out of it.My top challenge is getting contractors to go out when they say they will =)

BiggerPockets is full of resources designed to help you along your journey, whether you are just getting started or a seasoned investor.

but with that said, it seems like you're assuming OP will be able to have a high performing / top performing STR (which i think we would all agree would beat unleveraged market returns.) 

CA is arguably #1 in the USA by a long shot for resource-potential-of-awesomeness.

I sure have to learn the terminology and implications of certain aspects and im sure I will but it very much helps having such helpful resources as the contributing folks in the forum here.Thank you all for your support!

(With invested capital, this matters, plenty of people are worth "taking a shot on" in other capacities, just not with respect to managing my money).2) "Is this investment where I'm giving you money the top priority in your professional life?" 

Check out all of the helpful forum posts and resources on here relating to Cinci real estate.