The end goal is to have a piece of land with multiple houses: one for my growing family but also a home for my mother in law.My mother in law has agreed to foot the money on a new property/land up front and when ready we can buy land from her to build/develop etc. 

I used to go to them all the time with my dad growing up and have gone to several as an adult.

Personally I would defer this question to someone with design experience, not sure I have seen too many on here commenting.You could do something neutral but remember especially with the rug if it is light color it will likely run quickly.

Will look to refi next year and get all our cash back (have 1 year left on generous seller financing)Failure: still battling a tenant eviction industrial property, costing me money (I can afford) but time and my energy (not a great use)A ha moment: just to focus on higher equity slugs into fewer deals, the law firm is #1 for me2025 goal: complete exit, closing Jan 9, keep making offers, grow the law firm with less billables

Remember, this is a hospitality business.5.

If the numbers aren't there yet, I'd suggest focus on growing your income, look into house hacking as previously suggested, or consider partnering with other investors who can qualify for the loans.

Her unit needs to be improved or I fear that the costs to fis it up will grow without decent maintenance.

Is it growing or shrinking? 

Your overhead and cost of capital are something to consider as part of your plan. remember if you get an investor to invest $250k but it takes you 3 months to deploy that  capital that is $5625 in interest you owe them, and say you can only invest $200k of it you are gonna have money always sitting on the sidelines.

You didn't save 40% you spent X that could have been used for marketing or growing your business