welcome to the club @Zach Fairfield I visited Portland earlier this year - beautiful city.

That means that there are plenty of agents, property managers and a beautiful fleet of multifamily buildings.  

Pretty much true.

The same broker  told me that since the house is in a weak brooklyn location banks will not necessarily go by the NOI / Cap rate.. is this true?

This is especially true when we are speaking because of a deal in a rental neighborhood.I think agents knowledge and involvement in the real estate market and investment space takes a beating on this site because many people around here are always looking for every possible loophole or scheme to squeeze every single dollar out of every deal. 

Perhaps look more in your true own back yard. 

Lots of car, bike, and foot traffic past the building for the restaurant and exposure, beautiful views of river, harbour, bay for all units.  

Final and most important point, surround youself with people who are very knowledgeable and look at for your interest becasuse I have found in life that most things can be accomplished if creative thinking is done but most important planning ahead and that might, depending on your level of expertise, mean you need to find a few investors or CPAs, or investor groups to hook up with.I am investor and every true investor I have met, actually loves helping people succeed. 

This is particularly true if there is a mortgage on the property.  

While you don't need one for your first purchase, having one might show them that you are driven and have carefully analyzed the property with a lot of consideration.In my experience, banks like to see what the proposed rental income is, then they allow you to use 75% of that income as your true annual income.