- FYI: it's only illegal to try to rent it out, the property owner can usually legally live in a nonconforming basement unit.If you do all this you may still negatively cashflow each month, so make sure your income can cover and/or your cash reserves.If you do this successfully, you will learn more in 1-2 years than you would reading here on BP for 5+ years:)Good luck:)

I want to minimize my leverage as much as I can for my first one, just to give me the best chance of success.

I've found conflicting information online.

At this point, I'm planning on contacting the county and the auditor, but before I do this, I wanted to find out if anyone on here has had a similar experience in Cincinnati and if they've found any success in appealing property taxes.With gratitude,Trevor

Best of luck and I do wish you success. 

Having reasonable expectations, hiring a local professional (Realtor or PM), doing your research, and doing everything right (i.e. pro photos, professional design, good renovation, proper amenities and location, etc) are the keys to success in 2025.

The rental game is funny in that you want to responsible enough to always make rent, but not successful enough to easily afford buying a house.

Caring about the quality of the housing you offer and the way you treat tenants, does more for tenancy success than caring about their source of income (assuming it is legal and verifiable, which S8 is). 

I was checking online for medium term rental proces in that area.

Since my current strategy is BRRRR, I'm looking for a location where I can implement it successfully within my budget.I’d prefer to target the best neighborhoods or subdivisions I can afford, ideally with favorable eviction laws and other key factors.That said, I started wondering if there might be a better strategy to achieve my goals.