There are two driving forces for my desire to leave the state of California for my next investment. 

So you'll find a handful of nice neighborhoods scattered about, but the surrounding area is less desirable.  

follow up: I spoke to property management and they stated the townhome was in a desirable area and would likely rent soon.

In regards to neighborhoods in your desired price points I think you'll be hard pressed to find anything in the Columbus market.

This 2-floor condo has 2 car parking, which is highly sought after in this very desirable location.

The current owners have no desire to get the proper Certificate of Occupancy for the half bath and we're using a traditional lender (big bank) so we think this will be an issue to get a mortgage.1. 

I want to buy more where I am at because the Havre De Grace properties I am buying are solid structures, in a desirable location, with the surrounding property values being 2x, 3x, and even up to 8x the cost.

Nicholas, you are in a great position; you have "YOUTH" to go along with intellectual capital and the desire to achieve your goals at a young age. 

You do need LLC once you have enough equity, and you will know when that is :) If you decide to use LLC now, you have to follow strict rules to actually benefit from the LLC. o get the desired asset protection, you need to treat LLC/Scorp as a separate entity.

I've got the desire, just trying to decide on the path.