I have a financial adviser but he's a stocks/bonds/etc. person, and I don't want to increase my holdings in that area of finance any further, so I don't really know what kind of person to look for, for advice of this nature.

To increase your business as an agent I would high recommend the (red book), The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, you must know about it since you are with KW. 

Obviously, most owners will appeal the decision but who knows the outcome...As far as I heard, JC downtown didn't do a re-evaluation for a very long time which is the reason for the absurd increase..

It's nice, so you should be able to attract quality tenants and get maximum rents.If you need someone to pull MLS data for you (like the listing) or other comps, etc. just let us know and we can help you get more information that may help you make a better decision.

My experience is that the investor class homes sell at a second lower tier of pricing.All that said, if you really want to increase the value of my homes, go ahead and buy for $120k, 😜 but I personally would look for a better deal - they are getting much harder to find in Normal Station but still come up from time to time.

Anyway, I could spend more time at work and it would increase my income.

You're going to have a tough time finding a lender, you need to increase your pay or find a new job/partner with someone.

We refinanced our house to increase cash flow, and that will close on July 2nd. 

You would just want to make sure when the lease is renewed that you increase the rent to at least cover their part of the water bill.

You will not increase cash flow by paying down a mortgage.