Not all price ranges  make good cash flowing investments. 

Given that I'll be house hacking my realtor created a list that focused on duplexes but giving the cost of CapEx I can't really see duplexes within my price range, (below $115k), making enough rental income to sustain and cash flow positive long term.

Your rent will need to be in the range of 1% of the full market value of the home  ( or better) not 1% of the mortggae value if you want to see any return on your equity.If you can not get a minimum of 2K rent per month it would be wiser to sell the property.SFHs purchased as a personal home are very rarely a worth while investment as a rental property.

For what it’s worth, over the past couple years, my increases ranged from 3% to 8%. 

If you're working the sub 50k range, you're going to have a ton of deferred maintenance, problem tenants, and most likely a bunch of move-outs or evictions if and when you get the properties. 

This ranges depending on the loan/property, but assume another $150-$200 a month. 

Kitchen offers brand new stainless appliances, incl. gas range & fridge!

I would just like to purchase homes that are around the $120,000 range and in non flood zones to keep our costs down.Thank you

If you have a price range and plenty of downpayment you can look almost anywhere.

Unfortunately, we've been self-employed in a non-real estate industry for a LONG time now and we couldn't document our income in a way that was sufficient for our lender - so we did a cash deal instead.I thought the equity in that property and in the home we own outright (about $256,000 in total equity) would be enough to reset the conversation for our next deal, but our lender says existing equity will always be overshadowed in our situation by documented income (or lack thereof.)