I’ve know investors selling CD or lease option who want to keep the property and k]just looking for the extra “income” from the higher rental rate and lease option fee.  

The Short Term Rental Secrets Podcasts and Website by Mike Sjogren is pretty great for learning a ton and hearing from big players in the market that started from nothing.https://open.spotify.com/episo...https://www.strsecrets.com/abo...

Even some HYSA are offering over 3%, & CD's 3-4.5%.

Looks to me like we've got a case similar to that of Clayton Morris......All sizzle, no steak. well his profile looks like he is a major player in Cleveland it would be odd that your paths have not crossed.  

You're competing with locals who have some of those players.

. $300k or less for a single family home you'll have more options but likely still be limited to more C/D class neighborhoods.Maybe you say, well I'll look at cheaper properties.

That depends, but you can see from a bunch of posts on here that so far you're getting shafted performance-wise because a bunch of people aren't getting any dividends during a time when they could easily be earning 4-5% or more in a basic bank CD.

Find a local REIA (NationalREIA.org) pay the $20 a month and meet real players. 

Key West has some major players worth reaching out to.Rick Haskins of BuyTheKeys is a well-connected broker.On the development side, the Toppino and Spottswood families are among the most established when it comes to large-scale projects throughout the Keys.

Thanks  Cleveland can be tricky at times, especially if it's a C/D class area.