You may end up  in a certain niche, but it needs to be market driven, not based on your desires of doing something.  

Ostensibly, s/he would be doing this to justify a higher valuation and may not be as discerning with tenant selection as you might desire.  

The seller's motivation is so extreme that he doesn't want to make anything out of the deal, his only desire is to worry less about the property.

The Chicago market is very hot right now.Single Family and 2-4 units are the most desirable and competition is crazy now.At the foreclosure auction bidders are paying MLS prices now.However, there are still deals but really need to be on the ball to get them.Good luck and remember cost vs value.  

And more vast in terms of driving in or out of your desired zip code?

This could be very desirable to an investor who plans to rent the house out anyway.  

Any place you invest you need to have one of the following be true in my opinion:1) purchase considerably below market value (very challenging in a red hot market)2) force appreciation though increase rents or rehab (easier if you have skills/desire/patience)3) be able/willing to wait for the next cycle (5, 7,10,15, 30 years, think Texas in the late 80s)4) have great positive cash flow that you can weather rent loss or massive reductions in rent to the tune of 30-50%.

If you are interested in more passive investing w/turnkey opportunities, at least you can see what's available elsewhere if your local market has few small MF or where they are is not desirable.  

Living on a small little island in Curacao, coming to the USA, as an international student, finagling my way up the most desired organisations on this planet, in my field.. which is hard to do as an American, even harder as a foreigner.  

The PITI payment leaves $400-$650 for reserves (vacancy, maintenance, repairs) and PM if desired.