I don't think is impossible to find buildable land in Charlotte and surrounding areas.

With building it can be a task with all the bureaucracy but if you have patience it all just depends on the zoning and all that fun stuff but due able I work with developers now that have built where others would have deemed impossible.

For a commercially zoned tourism home, it might be a bit tricky, but definitely not impossible.

@Alex U.W2 and REP status is almost impossible to achieve.

Every tax professional I've ever spoken with and every tax professional comment here on BP that I've seen, states it's almost impossible. 

Not that its impossible to get creative financing or that its bad to start investing I'm not saying that by any means at all the earlier the better but the safety blanket is small with no reserves for an expensive learning experience which in this industry is likely. 

You pay taxes on 401k withdrawals whether you are 40 or 60, so the 10% penalty you get is what you have to factor in with your decision.It's impossible to say whether stocks/bonds in your 401k or real estate that you acquire will do better over the long haul.

Is a house hack in this region essentially impossible from a positive cashflow stand point if you go through traditional financing and purchase at market value?

It's not only mathematically impossible we ever repay it, we are also at the door step of mathematical impossibility to service it....

It's just more difficult to locate, but not impossible.