I'm trying to compare 2 cities to see how the rents go up there year over year.

Trying to make a decision. 

That could cause the naive newbie to get into trouble, something many of us here try to prevent. 

Hello, I'm trying to calclulate the Debt Service Coverage Ratio. 

I’m working on an Amazon-based side hustle at the moment, and have been trying to break into tech for the last year with 10 personal apps set to release on the App Store sometime this year.

My plan was to acquire a property through owner financing, and find someone whose goals align with what I'm trying to accomplish and have them cover the down payment.

I will try to keep this brief.

This is unlikely since you are a new investor but I would recommend trying to BRRRR wherever you decide to invest because it does help you build equity faster. 

That being said, I'd like to protest to try to decrease my costs a bit. 

Many times they will claim it's wonderful and then try to hide their worst deals by only showing completed deals.