Once you get to 5 units and up they should be looking at the operating income of the property itself and not at your personal financials.

The best piece of advice would be to just jump in and take action; books and articles provide great ways to learn but ultimately hands on experience always works best so just start doing some wholesale deals

WI is a hot plate of rental properties right now much opportunity I hope you take massive action 

I would ask questions to find out how you can undo any action they take to get a certificate of occupancy later and not incur a bunch of fines.

I'm an aspiring real estate investor with the ultimate goal to one day own an apartment complex and live my life with full financial freedom.   

I mean would you rather begin working towards financial independence or have a car that you could eventually repurchase later.

Have you done your due diligence outside of the financial aspect?

The next action step for me is to find sales/comparable data for my market for the purpose of getting a better sense of what is selling and for what price retail houses are going for, along with comparables.  

These funds usually come from the seller (or some other source) as a financial incentive to induce someone to buy their property.

At first blush, donating housing sounds like something you might be able to claim, again, as a donation- not as the church operating the multifamily- but even as a financial planner tax rules make my head hurt so please talk to a CPA before making any promises