I've spent the last year or so (on and off) looking for my first investment property to house hack but have had minimal luck.

What really bothers me is these so-called gurus are all using the same model... entice you with glitz and glamour of how you can become a "Real Estate Genius" by using there systems only to find out after you have paid thousands of dollars to them most of the info they teach can be found for free or at least minimal costs.  

Occasionally you will get no occupation which if they fill in an agency or other info is fine but you have to have minimal data.

Expect buyers to experience delays as new flippers scramble to navigate these requirements and pin down reputable contractors willing to handle the work within reasonable timelines and budgets.3.

You can purchase the first one with a private loan from your dad or cash to minimize risk, and leverage a second or third property with a bank loan and the rest of your cash.

My definition of market rent is the price where I can READILY (without delay) find and KEEP a GOOD QUALIFIED tenant.

Only issue is you have minimal insight on monthly performance unless you download the bank statement and then build custom charts in excel or google sheets. 

As for the interest rate, it does help being 0% minimizing the cost but even if there was an interest rate, as long as you have enough room on the cards to float, it's not your money you are spending.

Even if you could count on the 5% increase per year you mentioned, I would be shocked if your taxes and insurance increase per year was less than that.Roof 2 years old might need to be replaced within 10 years, water heater and HVAC may not need to be replaced, will sill surely need a number of maintenance events, ...all of which will increase your cash costs, and delay the cash return. 

Your best bet is to ensure that there are no material modifications that would in any way harm or even moderately delay the ability to rent it out and qualify as a normal SFR (one lease, one family) or sell on the market to an owner-occupant