I'd say first, figure out what kind of investing you're into and make sure that the market you choose supports it. 

She wants to buy me out of my share of the house, which I fully support.

That's super cool to be able to witness and support such a milestone. 

Lenders might also require a history of rental income on the property or at least a market rent analysis to support the numbers.Given that you’re also looking for down payment assistance, which typically comes with its own set of lender requirements, your options might be a bit more limited.

Investors are building LIHTC, and other affordable projects in these areas, but new multifamily can not today be built to support the rents that a D area has. 

While losing the 2.5% interest rate is tough, prioritizing a business structure that supports long-term growth might outweigh that loss.

@Paul Dentinger we support a lot of Real Estate Investors in MT and they provide us with intel on who the top property managers in Missoula.

A few of ours barely have an accent (they studied here for years).They are trained for level 1 support and filter out 95% of common issues for us, the other 5% go to management here locally to handle.

With their appraisals do they loan based on the market appraisal or do they loan on what the DSCR supports like 1.3?

you can form a little mastermind of folks doing the same thing and support each other.it just doesn't make sense for folks with no experience to partner.good luck