I would suggest keeping it as a rental and do a cash out refinance if you have a short term loan on the property.  

It stayed on the market for a while and then went to short sale and then went off market, I thought someone had bought it.

Awesome @Roy Wise, the group is fairly new but we have added a bunch of members in a short time.

I am looking to learn how to do Fix and Flips, Buy and Holds, wholesale, Foreclosures, and Short Sale purchasing.

I am looking to learn how to do Fix and Flips, Buy and Holds, wholesale, Foreclosures, and Short Sale purchasing.

You can probably pay the same or less than what you're paying in Astoria if you house-hack a duplex.The only way I'd suggest a SFR as a first investment is if it has a live-in basement that you'd be willing to live in short-term.As far as location, its best to first get an idea of what you're qualified to purchase.

For instance do you pay the entirety of the rental price and after rely on your marketing to fill the space with short term rentals? 

I went through a huge ordeal on a short sale where a coach house was not legally cert-ed and it took a few weeks before the listing agent convinced the zoning board to add it.

It was very interesting and I am glad I did it, but it's crazy time consuming (I general'ed it myself ), ties up so much capital and is quite risky actuallly - "spec home" is short for speculation after all.

An exception is if a market has over demand and a short supply for that product type then it can still sustain itself.This is just what I saw in the last down cycle.