I personal have 50-60k in debt from 3 vehicle loans, student loans, credit cards.

I want to raise a few million dollars for a fund within the next year.

Start your website ASAP and have its address on your card.  

In other words, I'm buying a 4-unit and proposed raising the purchase price 6% to cover 6% of my closing costs.

If not, a red flag would be raised for me.

Dad, on the other hand, was born and raised here and worked in a very stable company for almost 40 years.

I was born and raised in Dallas Texas.  

As Neal also mentioned, the I-5 bridge is not very commuter friendly especially when it is raised for boats.So although Vancouver may look appealing due to the lower price point to get in, I do not think it has the same appreciation potential as Portland does, which is partially what makes the buy and hold so appealing.

I would suggest getting some cash together, raising credit score as high as possible, and investing time in acquiring knowledge before jumping into any purchase.

Details:$175k, 8 units, built 1966, $450 each unit rentassume 10% vacancy, 55% expenses, 4% interest rate, 25% down.Before raising the rents (basecase), I get 1.85% monthly rent to purchase price (2% rule)2.33 debt coverage ratio, 10 CAP, 21% cash on cash.All in all, not too bad.