Why the property spikes my interest: Rents in the area for a 2/1 are $850-900. 

My take is the City of Portland, the biggest landlord in Multnomah County, is the root cause of rent spiking drama.

Granted, we are dealing with a very small sample size and what (on the surface of your chart) appears to be an unusual spike, but that may just be the foreboding of things to come.

They have been super hot right for some of the investors that I have come across.The smart investors are covering (or even making more profit on top of) their holding period monthly/annual expenses (mortgage, property taxes, maintenance, etc.) by renting out the property as a short-term rental (more information here in this utlimate guide to short-term rentals that I recently helped collaborate on with some other professionals in the industry) while biding their time for the market to rise as Millennials and Empty-Nest Boomers continue to spike prices as they flock into theses cities in droves.

I think almost everywhere is seeing this little spike in prices.

The problem was where the gutter spikes went into the facia.

I was also aiming for bond-like return from rent and "hoped" for the occasional capital appreciation spikes to boost the return.

Because my input is that you should not be wrapped up in this deal, you cannot afford this house.If a lender tells you that "you can afford" $375k for your primary residence, you should be shopping for homes in the $275k-$300k range.What you've done here is maxed out your debt-to-income ratio to the point where just a small spike in interest rates has caused you to not be able to afford the monthly payment.

Of course Livingston rents and prices have spiked as a result now too. 

Electric can also spike in the summer with A/C.