You can probably live a better life style on 6k of w2 because of  Benefits  (health care being the big one)  Conventional loans are going to be tough, your income is going to be scrutinized more.  

Here’s where it’s pretty interesting: the apartments are very small and don’t have kitchens.

Pretty cheap on cabinets, did that include labor or did you do that on your own too?

They should pretty much be there to pay their app fee and if approved (credit, income, background),  sign the lease. 

It's pretty obvious there are at least 1.5 tenants living in the apartment based on this and your previous posting.

The goal here is to learn as much as possible without taking epic risks.That said, I'm pretty open minded.So far I've poked around in Bremerton, Wenatchee, Ellensburg, Yakima, Mt.

You can also expect at least 20% down if not 25% down so those are pretty good terms. 3.5% is well below market for ivestor property so again better than average returns. 

some in Hawaii can be pretty cheap.. 

With a few minor upgrades, I'm pretty confident I can get 1k for each unit.

While using an FHA loan, is it pretty typical that the first year will be a loss while focusing on the longer play?