I choose cash flow as my metric becase investing for appreciation is speculative and if you speculate incorrectly you get burned. 

Places with a wild swing always concern me -- its too speculative (read: risky) to last.

I'm purely speculating here, since I don't know your area, neighborhood, or complex, but it may be related to the fact that you have "the nicest unit in the complex" and your unit is "the largest one in the complex, ... has the nicest view of downtown, and it is the ONLY unit in the complex with actual bedrooms."

Salem is cheaper than Portland but I would caution buying "break even" cash flow properties or buying properties based on speculation / inflation.

I told him I never want buy by speculating on appreciation.

There is much speculation.

If it's in the planning stage or the thinking stage, what you're doing is speculation.

But I do not want to speculate on what I would be able to sell it for just yet, and I want to make sure my numbers are safe for my ultimate goal of buy and holds.

So finding good cash flow is more foolish than speculating for appreciation?

To say that they are things that no one wants is merely speculation.