I do believe for what you clarified from your original post that breaking even is okay and you'll be using it for personal use that you can do this. 

However, when you rent out a portion of your home, you need to make sure you're properly dividing any expenses you pay to maintain the home between personal and rental uses.

House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience.

Hi Stone, I take it you've never seen this old "I  Love Lucy" clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Personally, I'd recommend multiple properties, but that all depends on your long term goals.

Personally, I would also be more inclined to work on a market where you have fewer rentals available. 

I personally have success in doing flips with my partner here in Ohio.

Zillow can be fun to deal with.Anyway, the fun part of the Exclusive Agency Addendum" in Texas is this:"If Owner sells or leases the Property to an Excluded Prospect, Owner will not be obligatedto pay the fees due to Broker under Paragraph 5A of the Listing, but Owner will pay Broker, at the time the sale closes or the lease begins, a fee equal to"and an excluded prospect is defined in the very next paragraph:"In order for a person to qualify to be an Excluded Prospect under this Addendum, Owner must send Broker written notice identifying the Excluded Prospect by name, address, and phone."

I'd love to do some birddog work in return for a fee for the find and the privilege of watching how the game is played.

Personally, local is best but without knowing more about you, it might not be a good approach.