It's not an exact match to your situation, but it has similarities, and I think you'd see tenants just as happy with baseboard heat that could increase the temperature ~10-15 degrees as you would with completely separate furnaces, with a MUCH lower upfront cost.I think the main thing to consider is how long you're planning on holding the property.

At first i thought i was over estimating but as i look more and more there are less and less apartments available for rent and the absolute cheapest ive been able to find a 2 bedroom for from hillsboro to pittsfield is 900/month and there is very very little available to rent in these areas the only ones i can find and they are not luxury apartments hell they arent even updated apartments and they are going for 1200-1300/month, i found a couple 4 units around 150-160k that are at full occupancy renting for 975/month i believe rent can be increased in these properties to at least 1k/mo which would be 3k income for 3 apartments same plan as my original post with a slightly higher mortgage payment.

But once the trend gains momentum and there are new restaurants opening up the positive dynamic in the housing market will increase.

You can find value but if you are only buying one property you increase your risk. 

However, are there any issues with zoning when increasing the # of units from 4 to 5 since 5 is officially commercial?

She's exceptionally good though, so in the next couple of weeks I'll increase her tasks to training a new cold caller and possibly accepting all of my incoming calls. 

I didn’t look at the Fed minutes today but the “tone” for the past couple of months is “rated will increase”.

Wherein you get the equitable interest (that is any value increase you bring to the property is yours to keep; also any cash flow minus the payments to the owner) in the property and seller gets to keep the property under his name, so no capital gains tax.Here is a good read on BP: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/06/18/case-study-master-lease/

It would be purchased well below market with plenty of opportunity to increase value.

Besides looking in other markets, which I am doing, look at ways to add value so that you cash flow (20% down, great deals, sub-meter units, petition tax assessments renovate, rent increase) and then make sure you have equity in your property when you sell to get paid on the backside of your deal.