If the numbers aren't there yet, I'd suggest focus on growing your income, look into house hacking as previously suggested, or consider partnering with other investors who can qualify for the loans.

How long have you been investing in storage?

As @Patrick Drury mentioned- the West Side does not have any POS areas (besides Lakewood, but it's only needed for previously non-owner occupied/rental properties) Something else to consider in Cleveland proper is Lead Safe Testing ..

I think most of the students at those two colleges are commuters anyhow.

I was hoping to get some feed back from my experienced colleges.

Allen, you mentioned your kids going to college.

  #5: Invest the money you'd be spending on rental properties into the business you already own, creating greater profits than any of the previous 4 scenarios.I don't know what kind of business you have, but *in general* money invested in a profitable business is going to beat anything on "passive" real estate.

I haven’t used them yet but Universal Settlement Services is an investor friendly title company in the state college/altoona area.

I dove into real estate as a college student, working in New York City as a real estate agent during the summers.

There are occasionally opportunities for grandfathering if there is evidence of legally established conversions that were done previously, but no permit records exist to show it was done.