Maybe just keep doing what I'm doing until rates favorable and I have desire to reduce my w-2 hours.

Depending on the seller's situation and desire they may/may not be willing to negotiate this.

Split levels are not as desirable as other designs, but every house has a price that the market will pay.  

However, I have no desire to compete with free.

Reverse engineering from your desired income to today's steps, like calculating the number of properties to purchase each year, is a practical strategy.

Imagine the cash flow I could have if I desired (my cash flow is not great because I extract value regularly and because I prefer my return to be in tax free or tax deferred sources and cash flow you get taxed on yearly).Case Schiller used to (maybe still does) publish a residential market performance ranking since 2000.  

Some are considered more desirable to live in while some might have better schools.

The second is a growing desire to manage risk through owning better-quality assets where unexpected capital expenses are less likely.

Im just saying that in the future if/when you go to sell an owner occupant will likely prefer a central AC system so that will make your home more desirable and theoretically worth more.

You may be able to find houses that will get close to that criteria, but they will most likely be in less desirable neighborhoods that you will have lots of issues and turnover.