How can we narrow in this range?

Houston is so large and I'm having a hard time narrowing down an area.

I'm just looking to see if I can narrow it down to Illinois.

I own 6 SFR rentals in B and B+ areas, all under PM.

Her specialized knowledge about real estate was more extensive than mine because that's what she does for a living.When I buy a home again where I'm living now, I'll narrow down the list to half a dozen candidates and ask questions about those.

I narrowed it down to houses that are as close as it can get to being a match based on bedroom, bathroom, square footage, and year built.

I would start there, then you can see what you can afford and probably narrow down markets.Then find an agent in an interested area that can help you understand the market, neighborhoods ect.With house hacking you want to be somewhere you are happy to live and work on top of the other stuff you mentioned

One property I have has a narrow doorway, that required removing the door trim to get the appliances in. 

There used to be a big difference between 5,7,10 year fixed debt in interest rates but the gap has narrowed and more minor now.

I wouldn't count on this as a strategy, it's way too narrow.