I have a vacant house a couple doors down from my personal home, in Texas.

It is possible to self manage since this is only few miles from my house however I did want to account for PM fees in case I needed someone else to manage. 

In some cases, the house came back to them.

Old houses at super high prices. 

Assuming that I left the whole area open like a beach house, the impact is VERY minimal, but has to be checked. 

I’ve been looking around and the areas that I like, I can’t afford a house.

Outside of getting a partner to help, I really don't have any creative solutions for you that won't leave you in the poor house at the end of the day. 

.- Very low appreciation unless there is a large market shift -- major new employer, city takes many housing units offline via eminent domain, a college greatly expands without additional housing, etc.The list goes on.

I bought a house here but I am still remodeling.

You might consider house hacking a small multifamily (2-4 units) for your next home.