I'm currently living down here but all my financials (assets, bank accounts, income, tax filings, etc) are in the US.

I'm not sure what you decided on the Akron property, but I live an hour from there and could drive the neighborhood for you.

Last Thought:  If your parents plan on exchanging into a property with the intent of renting the property to you, make sure that they are charging you something close to fair market rent for living there. 

It is all about intention, don't go into it without planning on living there. 

Purchase price: $350,000 Cash invested: $600,000 I own and operate Platinum Resort Assisted Living, a 16-bed Memory Care Mansion located in the heart of Georgetown, TX!

Could it qualify for a conventional loan and you do a live in BRRRR using your HELOC for the rehab?

(Side note I live in a small town so may have to look in the larger city of Columbus which is an hour away. 

In your case if you don't need the income to live on, I'd look at the ROE and determine if you can do better with less work.

This property is in a great area for me in North Arlington (great schools, stones throw away from a huge community park, and close to I30), and the plan is to live in it for a year or so before renting it out (I’m sure I’ll be picking your brains when the time comes!).

Christina will go deep into where has the market moved to what might be coming in this next year in residential real estate.Bio:Over the last 15 years as a real estate investing mentor, Christina found the greatest obstacle her clients faced was an overwhelming amount of information about investment real estate that didn't produce the results they needed.She created the Live A Rich Life - Real Estate Investment Workshop to simplify the process so people could get started at a pace they could handle, using a system that maximized results.