Adding more housing is important but the way this occurred was grass roots work by younger, dynamic people who care about having places other than a SFH home. 

If you need to "count" the rental income, it will push you over that limit.So it's FHA, get a PHENOMENAL deal rendering my above statement untrue (off-MLS, like if the seller is your drinking buddy or something), or put down a large down payment, for the time being. 

I hope this message can be applied to anyone pushing through a grind to finish a project, secure a new deal, or to get started.

So in a way, the developers’ vision is critical since it may invite people into the neighborhood or push people away.

This is likely the root cause of some of the other issues we have been battling for the last several years.

Is it worth pushing our budget to the max to replace, or will an appraiser just check the box that there is central heat/air? 

You can have several "good" years when nothing happens, followed by a year with 3 HVAC failures requiring replacement, 2 long vacancies + 2 serious make ready that will suck all the reserves and cashflow and push you into trouble if not careful.And last, I suggest you run regularly a "stress test" on your portfolio - what happens if you have X amount of vacancy at the same time, accumulated with Y of roofs replacements or HVACs in the same period? 

So who would take care of the cat in the event that she is hospitalized for any length of time.I know this isn't exactly your circumstance but I think you could definitely push back if you so desire.

In my naivety I pushed the urge to fire the sack of shade until he "got the systems all wrapped up", because on the residential real estate side of things I had dealt with a few exceedingly complicated sales that were caused by open permits (permits that had never been finaled out and closed) so I was very apprehensive about firing the contractor before the Electrical, Mechanical, Structural, and Plumbing permits had been closed.Six MORE months later it had been enough.

Maybe on borderline deals, I would push back.