In regards to your current deal, I would be hesitant because even though you will be able to afford the mortgage payment and it looks like you have a renter already in place, there is still a lot more that would need to be figured in.1) Taxes ( Not sure in your area, but you could find out very easily or this may already be included in your payment)2) Cap Expenditure (Figure at least $100/mo)3) Repairs (Figure at least $100/mo)4) Property management (8-10% of current rental rate roughly $150) - I know you may manage it yourself but if you ever decide not to, you want to take that into consideration so you can plan for that.5) Vacancy Rate (5-10% of current rental rate $75-$150) - even though you have a renter you have to plan for the worst case scenario if something happened to him and you were unable to find someone to rent to.So if you add the above that is an additional $425-$500 not including your monthly taxes.  

They have as of yet been unable to get to the property to assess the damage.  

Wondering if it's possible for realtors to attend live auctions on an investor's behalf, if I'm unable to attend myself?

Our Texas buyer/tenant rep agreements have a clause that states the broker will attempt to collect the commission from the seller/owner, but if he's unable to do so, the client agrees to pay the specified commission.

I was unable to go into the unit and to schedule work for another day.

So if you buy the 4 plex you will likely be unable to buy more until you have seasoned it by owning more than 1 year and having it show up on your income taxes.Next your DTI does matter. 

I have been looking in other places, but being unfamiliar with them, unable to go see them quickly, makes it a little tough as I'm a hands on type of person.

I am trying to put some of the equity in the investment property to work without having to sell the property to get access to the equity, however because it is a rental I have been unable to find a bank that will lend.

I'm currently reading a couple commercial real estate books (one of which is a textbook) where the author speaks of some of their own experiences (for example, incorrectly verifying all owners of a MF he was trying to purchase thus being unable to sue for breach of contract when they backed out).  

When my grandma became unable to live by herself, my sister and I moved her into a skilled nursing facility.