Offer to help him manage the place or even request that you be THE property manager behind the scenes.

Decision differs depending on your scene.

There has to be some major changes in leadership, support for business and police and a need for people to be here reducing the WFH and re-opening of the nightlife scene. 

And lastly, your wrong Matt, life will go on, I am clueless how you can counter that it won't unless there is some major asteroid I am not aware of, but a virus with as high a 5% mortality rate will not end life, even 90% as nightmarish as it is means, life will go on.

The entire Boise metro has been on the rise recently for a lot of great reasons (extremely cheap cost of living relative to Los Angeles, an outdoor enthusiasts dream with 80 mountain ranges in the state, and a great brewery scene) and Caldwell is a stone's throw away.

He came across an internet article saying that due to the typically Party scene that often colleges face town officials made a rule saying that landlords must live in the building if they are renting to students.

They seek to keep your apartment occupied, and there is a fair amount of legwork behind the scenes whenever there is an upcoming vacancy. 

Title says it all, but I'm very new to the real estate scene, but I'm interesting in notes investing.

Yes, all the "legal stuff" was public but all the real maneuvering went on behind the scenes and it was political, very political.

It was in Sunset Magazine as one of the top 5 mountain towns in the West, and there is an emerging tech scene in the area.