The purchase and remodel of our first house led us to have $200,000 in equity and open a HELOC, we used the HELOC and savings for the purchase of our first flip whichever just sold and made solid money on.

Then I transitioned into multifamily and began investing in solid markets led by proven teams of syndicators.

I would think that whatever source that led you to IL would also have some influence on the specifics you are looking for...  

There was no one event that led to the collapse...it was the perfect storm of many events.  

This has all led me into believing that doing a short-term rental in this unit might be my best option.Does anyone here have any suggestions for me in this field?!

If everything you've done and have been doing has led you to where you are now....if you continue with the same habits, the same daily routine... you will stay exactly where you are. 

And since we were the money we had the biggest risk so I dug in and built myself out of them first project I got my money back barely but that education on the job has led me to built 6 subdivisions from start to finish in the last 10 years and about 30 infills in Charleston SC from 500k to 2.5 mil each and my current project in Oregon of 90 homes from 700k to 1 mil. 

My search has led me to Pennsylvania, where I've read some good BP forum discussions for Allentown, Harrisburg, and Scranton. 

Many of the banks we were buying from were led by my old banking buddies.

A recent storm led to a new kitchen ceiling leak.