I would love to connect with people who have experience in this area or even a mentor.

I don’t know if it is just me, but I have not heard a lot of encouragement these days about going to local meetups while listening to the podcasts.On previous versions of the BiggerPockets website, it was a lot easier to find out where local meetups were being hosted because there was a link on the front page that read “meetups” and it would take you right to the meetup page where you could see a map where  people were having meetups in your area or in other areas across the country.

Read your contract.

Read, podcasts, local meetups would be a good place to start.

On the flip side, do you think the stability/predictability of the Dayton market could be a positive thing for someone like me to gain some experience and then branch out to a more competitive market like Columbus?

Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully sharing you knowledge!!

You will read in the policy that it has to be available to occupy for at least half the year.

Although no two people have the same experience while starting out, here’s a structured approach to help you get started:1.

I have been renting rooms in my home as mid-term rentals and have experience in that area. 

If you read what I said, I apologized if I assumed you weren't a HML and you were.My answer is still the same, there's nothing in the deal but problems for the buying from year 3 and beyond....and if you think I was lecturing you, you have a very thin skin.