It's a beautiful region of the country. 

Welcome @Aaron Ramm - I am as well extremely interested in the Snohomish County region. 

I would love to talk to and meet more experienced flippers/investors in the Buffalo/WNY region. 

I have found that often, the best options for rental dwellings come from the Regional Carriers not the National Carriers but it is not absolute. 

The area is always expanding the business district as well as downtown, from Access to low-cost regional talent, competitive real estate costs, strong work ethics, and excellent facilities for sports, shopping, leisure, and healthcare.Love to discuss Toledo if you would like!

@Michael Conte - yes, try your local banks first, as you have planned - by local, I mean banks only in your state, and basically have 2 to 8 branches maximum - these banks typically prioritize local investors, even if you don't have a relationship with them previously;  regional banks, those that overlap several states in a region, are also usually good bets as well, but they usually prefer those with previous business relationships (aka previous loans that have shown a track record of paying on time) - but if you are willing to set up multiple lines with them (business checking for your LLC, for example), they might be willing to do a loan with you as well. 

I think this has a lot of regional variance.

You can find out what the property *should* be doing using a number of the STR data subscription services (none are perfect, but the overall trend is usually correct), or from getting projections from some of the larger, (or not necessarily larger, but more tech-forward) management companies, and also using the ENEMY MethodCovid has actually caused a boom in true, regional vacation rental markets, as most tourists aren't comfortable getting on planes or going to large metro areas yet.

I have heard that Columbus, Indianapolis, and a lot of the states in the Central Region have been good areas to invest in.

I was also curious about the best locations to house hack if there are any (could be a specific location or just a general region).