I have 3 of my houses with 2 different PM's. 

Hi Daniel,What I mean by "bad reputation comes from OOS investors wanting $20k D market properties":This comes from when you hear people talking (including people on the BP podcast sometimes) and they talk about "Detroit" they might say "that's a bad market to invest in" "tenants don't pay" etc...That bad reputation comes largely from inexperienced (often times OOS) investors being attracted to the number of houses for < $50k.

Is there one area that is typically viewed as the best option for house hacking? 

If the other houses you own have no loans could you stack all their combined monthly rental income to pay off the remaining $120k mortgage before you retire? 

ive watched some youtube videos of foreignors rehabbing old farm houses in Japan, just do a search for them.

I don't believe you can buy a house in an LLC with a VA loan.

Are you able to figure out how to house hack locally? 

First, I'd recommend getting to know what different avenues you have such as wholesaling, buy and hold, developing, "house-hack", etc and seeing what you're comfortable with.

I just listed a 3br house for rent.

If you don't already own a primary residence, I highly recommend researching the investment strategy of house hacking.