One of my early properties barely broke even, but after a couple of years, rent hikes and expense optimization turned it into a strong performer.For cash flow benchmarks, I usually aim for $200-$300 per unit, but your situation.. house hacking.. offers unique benefits like reduced living expenses and quicker equity buildup.

I had a couple other ideas to salvage the deal first.

Hell, even Motel 6 has a couple of junk pictures screwed to the wall.

I used to be a landlord and flipper in New Zealand until a couple of years ago when I liquidated my portfolio and moved out here to Pittsburgh.

There's a couple things you could do.

My husband and I purchased our first Costa Rica property last year and were advised by our agent that in almost 6 years of working in that market he had only ever seen 1 American Couple successfully obtain a mortgage in Costa Rica and it was from Scotia Bank. 

She will do as much or as little as you prefer

We turned around a couple of parks.

I've experienced the same with my properties over the past couple of years. 

I also just requested to join a couple fb groups realted to STRs in DFW.