With a heavy-handed new law that is the first of its kind in the nation, Seattle has set its regulatory crosshairs on landlords, attempting to police their inner thoughts and eliminate the possibility that their decisions could be motivated by "implicit" or unintended bias.Known as the "first in time" rule, the mandate forces landlords to rent to the first qualified applicant, rather than choosing the best fit from among prospective tenants.Sponsors contended that this unprecedented restriction is needed because traditional anti-discrimination laws do not protect against unconscious prejudices.

This way if you do put it as a rental you have 3 years to test the rental waters to see if its a good fit for you.  

Asking a realtor to pull all of the multi-family properties that have gone off the MLS (not sold) in the last 6 months and trying to contact the owner directly via tax records.Funding - There are not a lot of multi's near me and they simply don't fit my family situation.

Zillow estimates that with some pretty advanced math and it's going to provide you the best fit answer to your question.  

I'm getting hung up on the questions...do I keep it because it cash flows well and it fits my goals for buy and hold?

It was going to be mostly sweat equity and I figure we could have it ready to rent by the time we had $15,000 total into it.However, our target area changed after we acquired it and we decided that this property didn't "fit" anymore and we're just unloading it.

With a purchase only the lender should only require a BPO which cost about $300 less and you can upgrade the home as you see fit since you are then only borrowing on the current market value.

The key is to speak to others who have done it and see if it fits with what your personal goals are.  

If anyone would be willing to connect me with someone who fits that criteria, please let me know.Thanks again.Conor

For me, it was a good fit but I didn't realize that until I spent some time early in my career getting to know the different strategies of investing.