If you are looking for properties, and find a good deal, you can sell it, and make a commission, and 2nd bonus is you make investor friends so when its time for you to invest you have partners.

By harder, I mean finding deals that actually pencil to even modest positive cash flow returns.  

It's currently an STR, but I'm tired of dealing with it and just want to convert to a long term rental.

I have done 100s of deals out there and I'm aware of almost every PM co.

Akron should not be as tough unless the deal is that good.

Keep learning by reading books and using BiggerPockets calculators to analyze deals.

You can 1031 later if you want, but it sounds like you have a pretty solid deal here, I'd just keep rolling. 

Ask the manager to explain their process for dealing with maintenance, late rent, evictions, turnover, etc.

Buyer will miss on deal after deal..

My focus is going to be on multifamily so if you, have information you wanna share or want to be a mentor or possibly even a sponsor I would love to partner on some deals.