You could try house hacking, living in a multi-unit property and renting out the other units to cover expenses, or look into areas outside the core like Aurora, Lakewood, or Westminster for better cash flow opportunities.

A person came by and was interested in renting it out and was willing to put some work in it.

My wife and I are moving, and we're debating whether to rent our ~2400 sq ft 4 BR single-family home in Newark, DE instead of selling. 

Do you want to try to make some cash flow or secure an asset for the long term so that maybe you can get some friends to rent rooms from you?

Not everyone starting off gets hit with this, and if you can buy a portfolio it can "de-risk" the issue to some extent, but if you have one property and experience an 8-9 month fight to collect rent prior to eviction with a large repair bill after that it can be very painful.ALWAYS use a licensed PM in Detroit. 

He did try to rent it long term without much success.

Especially if the condo can be a STR, an ocean view makes it more valuable...not to be a "butt head", but people can buy/rent and look at a parking lot anywhere for much less.If you think you've got a good agent, take their advice. 

And isn't Houston super overbuilt, with lagging absorption, declining rents, rising vacancy? 

I’m considering getting a 4 bedroom for 130,000 but want to make sure I can live in it and rent it out.

It's now nearly fully occupied and rents are going back up.