You can decrease costs by picking nice but standard finishes. 

I will not go all over town picking up cash payments as a small petite woman for security reasons and to protect my tenants interests in knowing that when they go to the bank they get certified documentation that they paid the full amount as opposed to me giving them a hand written receipt.

If you increase that to 250-300k then you can definitely pick up some solid rentals around Houston. 

Picking them up from the airport and providing touring services.

I have decided on sticking with my strategy of flipping (I did a mentorship on this and know the most about the process) but also running rental rates and more market info when picking my flip to use BRRR as a backup strategy. 

Once you can answer all these, and develop a long-term plan, pick a market that accommodates your goals as well as your budget and criteria.

I would assume picking these neighborhoods is a factor of knowing your market like the back of your hand, but that then begs the question, which market?

However, I recently picked up this book by Brandon Turner, Rental Property Investing, just to investigate and educate myself on some basic principles of investing into rental properties and house hacking.

Really depends on what type of project you're working on whether its a full gut or value add where you'll pick and choose what you're looking to upgrade or not .

Home prices lower, rates lower, seems like the perfect storm for first time home buyer or to pick up your first investment property?