It's definitely ramping up, and I do recommend caution and personal research as well, but that is true for any out of town investment.

My perspective comes from a lot of personal experience, including a couple of properties I chose to hang on to for many years, because it would've been more expensive to dump them in the interim.

This topic can be very specific to each person's situation. 

Out of the three areas you mentioned, personally I would prefer Cincinnati in that list.

My personal rule of thumb for profile age is that if the profile was created before 2015-2016 (when the internet started to get a bit crazy with misinformation ahead of a certain presidential election), I'll generally proceed as long as they're interacting like a normal person (not a bot) and their profile looks otherwise legit.

From what you've showed, I'd say your main focus should be working on your personal finance foundation rather than diving into an investment.

The Operator or the HammerThis is the person that actually runs the physical asset - property and asset management, project management - takes care of the day to day gritty details of operating rental property.

The only exception is finding a drywall person and general carpentry person; that's the only jobs I try to find an individual person for.

For that reason, I personally don't buy properties that fall under an HOA.Food for thought!

I appreciate the detailed suggestions and personal experiences you shared.