In Cleveland you could also purchase a property in an area that is improving or on the border of one.

@Jorge Vazquez we stopped doing signs over 10 years ago.We had a separate phone number on our signs, so were able to track traffic & applications from them.We were getting more & BETTER leads from our online ads then the signs - so an easy choice to stop using them (also time & money savings).

I purchased a rental unit and did some private funding in 2016, and I will probably expand this business by doing more deals.

Purchase price: $360,000 We bought this stacked duplex, lived in one unit for 2 years and moved on.

Self-proclaimed Section 8 guru's online claim to do the latter and then find Property Managers after they purchase the property in whatever state, but I don't know how real that is. 

You can also do up to 85% LTV on a purchase. 

I work with several real estate developers across the country and they all do it differently.My suggestion is to find a property type and an area/neighborhood/city/market that you are drawn to and plot your course from there.As for the amount of money you'll need, it's gonna be mostly driven off the purchase price of the property.

I'm 53, married with 2 kids less than 17 years old with debt only from purchases on credit cards and my home.

I am currently helping a VA buyer purchase a home with an assumable VA loan in Skye Canyon.

Cleveland and Dayton can be great markets for high cash flow and low purchase prices, but you need to be careful when navigating the neighborhoods so you're not buying in a D/F class area where no property managers will manage and where you'll never see any positive cash flow.