Looking to House Hack, But Duplexes Don't Cash Flow. Suggestions?

[Parker Hardy]

Hello Everyone, 

My wife and I are looking to purchase and house hack our first investment property. I spent a few months analyzing duplexes in the Conroe, Texas (North of Houston) area and was unsuccessful at finding duplexes that would cash flow given the current price points. I can't come close to the 1% or 2% rule and cash flow seems hard to come by. 

I've recently been looking into the co-living (rent by the room) strategy on single family homes and am exploring scenarios where I could house hack and do that at the same time and am running into similar roadblocks for anything under 5 bedrooms. Anymore than 5 bedrooms and parking becomes a serious bottleneck. 

Any suggestions? Is it worth purchasing a property to house hack that doesn't cash flow all that much and wait for inflation to increase my rents and equity? 

Thanks in advance!