The last thing the realtor wants is to list a Shortsale to low because it may not even trigger a BPO to be ordered by the bank which is ultimately what needs to happen before we know what the banks position is going to be on a property.

Welcome to the site Tadela. 1st thing you should check out is going to be The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods.

Ultimately need help keeping my mind straight on RE and my next and best moves.

I have been looking to do some OOS investing, and while I do have cash for this, the extra cash could be helpful.But my ultimate goal in real estate is to own great properties that both cash flow decently and have some appreciation. 

We learned to get creative in our bidding and the power of persistence and believing in your ultimate goal.

Ultimately we've decided to sell because: the cash flow would only be marginally positiveeven with property management in place it would be a hassle not worth the $/hr it generates, and pulling out the equity will allow us to put that equity into more syndicated commercial deals.

Long term rental would require a property management company (we live in a HCOL area that we can't buy in).Ultimate goal of the STR market would be breakeven cashflow with unit appreciation (since we would be using it for vacation as well) vs. long term rental requiring cash flow + long term appreciation.We would love any advice or learnings from others who made similar decisions when starting out.

Without it you are positioning yourself for the ultimate failure in this business. 

Additionally, renting vehicles when needed could ultimately cost more than what I would pay for the money for the car. 

Ultimately, you can both house hack AND invest OOS.