You're going to have to scrap like crazy to break even - think rent by the room, short term, mid term strategies that require more work.

The previous Tenant left the place dirty, and several rooms need new paint.

It depends on where you want to live, income, personality, and other factors.You could buy a large home and rent out the individual rooms to cover expenses, but this comes with problems.

My goal is to buy a house in the area and house hack the remaining rooms.

I rented out two rooms in my house to help offset my mortgage. 

Paid $140k(few grand over the 70% rule), quoted $150k to complete the rehab. 

She can use that money to get a hotel room or short term rental....or stay with family or friends.

You can house hack the other rooms.

I like your strategy of AirBB’ing the rooms.

I have a mix of MTRs, STRs, and a room rental and I can perform all the needed property management and bookkeeping features on the site.