Then you can refinance, rent out the last unit, and keep it as a pure investment property.Just be real diligent about running your numbers ahead of time.

I’d rather have 4 units rather then one house purely on cash flow standpoint.

Purely a buy and hold at a fairly low price. 

If you're looking for pure cash flow, you probably want to look in other markets such as Fayetteville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, etc.

So the deposits on the C-class rental can actually be equal to the deposit on a home renting for twice as much.The lower priced rental will also be a smaller floorplan with tile and laminate flooring instead of carpet, which saves on carpet cleaning and new carpets, and repainting on a pure sf basis.

You must be thinking that I'm saying something I am not saying, because what I'm saying is purely common sense, no extensive scouring of data necessary. 

Obviously everything here is purely my opinion and speculation.

PS, basing your choice of lenders purely off the quoted rate doesn't tell you anything about their performance.

On a pure dollars and cents point of view though investing here is not feasible partly because the average price of a home is over $600K but also because they are all negative cashflow even if you bought low and fixed it up.

In other words, your opportunity to require that the 1st floor apartment be vacant prior to closing has passed, pure and simple.