Given that, I love to hear from you if you had any experience in this space, and what is your recommendation...

I have the appreciation play / minimal cash flow in Texas right now, so the Akron plan is to maximize steady cash flow.

@Glenn Gruschow, Did you end up investing in STR, can you share your experience either way.

Yes I made sure they were an arborist, had full insurance and they had 35 years of experience.

House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience.

Buying in Ohio is like playing a video game - you're just looking online and calculating made up numbers to see what looks good.

We were very disappointed in our experience with Auben Realty.

Plus the added tax benefits to support my current situation ($120k a year as a "single" person with "0" dependents Uncle Sam definitely gets his cut) A home my family and I could use in the off seasons on vacation plus creating a unique experience with lifelong memories for our guests sounds great to me, regardless of whether it cash flows.

In my experience, partials work better with performing notes, and joint ventures work better with NPLs.

That's a bummer you had this experience with a seller although it is not uncommon.