Sellers want the 5.5% or 6% cap rate to sell, but buyers want the 9% cap rate to buy.

We are in the 2/5 years so we could sell and profit 200K+ tax free or we could rent with cash flow (not including mx) 1K/Month.

Many of them have caps to what you can sell the homes for so beware of this.

They currently sell attached duplex/triplex/quadplex in Central Oregon at prices LOWER than MOST resale closings on MLS.

I was referring to when you sell it.

In other words, I see the short term value in niche, but I would never want to become so niche that if I wanted to sell in 10 years I might be pigeon holing myself

You may be lured in by a cheap price or a pushy agent trying to sell you on a deal. 

Can I sell a property in one state and then do the 1031 transfer to a bigger property in another state withing the 45 day window, or does the transfer have to stay within the same state?

If the higher insurance rates are a concern for you I suggest staying away from the high rises for now.We are surrounded by multiple military bases so there is always someone buying, selling or looking for rentals in our area and surrounding areas.

The only exit strategies I see is only STR, sell, or go through reserves until vacations would pick back up.While in a more metro area you can convert to MTR or LTR if need be.