We stumbled across real estate investing and have since dived deep into webinars and books trying to soak up all the information we can about it.

other wise this is a roll up your sleeves and jump into the deep end if your going to makethose types of properties run efficiently and profitably.

Budget, proximity to the city, do you want to access downtown via boat (will determine which side of 153 dam you will be on), do you want deep water (some areas fluctuate 6 ft), dock/dockable, etc.  

Before I go to deep in answering these types of questions I always like to ask these two things.1.

Do people suddenly have deep pockets out of nowhere?

The factors here are several layers deep...1- The threshold decision is rooted in local ordinance and zoning...if you're in an area with tight local ordinances you're fighting with the people that live in the neighborhood before you ever reach the city zoning folks...this can go one of many ways2- ROI on the conversion...you're first stop should be with a local architect...they are worth their weight in gold when navigating a project like this and will wade through the regulatory waters much better than you...and a simple phone call may be telling to whether the conversion would be permissible.The extension of this is the cost of the renovation in relationship to the rents received...the stars would really have to align to say you should spend a significant amount of cash to convert a performing building with 4 revenue streams to serve another function (but there is more to this)...and the cost of construction (and lumber in particular) is 5 fold what it was 1.5 years ago...3- As you indicated...exit...I think the only rational reason to convert a 4-unit would be to get condo status or single family/ shared wall and sell one or both of the units to an end buyer (you are basically paying the role of a speculative developer here)...this is happening frequently in locations like Olde Towne East and Merion Village...hard to demonstrate how successful this has been, but it seems far fetched reasonable consumers would pay the same for a  free-standing SFR they would for half of a "duplex" or condo, but who knows for sure.Either way you look at it you're in a residential appraisal situation on the comparable sales approach....4 unit buildings are still "single family" homes. 

I have such a deep love for the Rogue Valley and love calling it home. 

Lead/asbestos or not, these are repairs that are just a pain, messy, and you don't want to breathe any of it regardless of what it is.And, the build date is not the most important date; look for the effective age. 

@Costin I. we don't all have commission breath! 

That's $3,000/week and he doesn't have a broker breathing down his neck and can do all the deals that he comes across.Sorry it's a long story, but it illustrates legal issues if you're a licensed agent doing deals on the side.