If the proper permitting was done when you converted the double to a single you would not need them to "acknowledge" anything.Buffalo is like any city, there are good areas and bad.  

Our detached garage is about 325 square feet now and half of that space was legally converted to a recreation room with a bathroom in the 80s.

I do not want to go into another vacation market but rather a metro area with a more diversified economy again just to get into a different type of asset.That being said I do want to continue to short term rent the next few properties we get at least in the first few years of ownership in order to increase cash flow to combat these higher prices and carrying costs before potentially converting to more passive long terms down the line.Therefore I am looking for markets that 1) have a decent draw of visitors year round 2) have regulations that allow strs in some parts of the city 3) Are in growing cities in the west or south.Below is a list of markets I have identified as potential places to look and I was hoping to get some insight from either other investors doing the same thing or agents/investors in any of these markets on whether this is potentially a good market to explore or not.1) Salt Lake City (this is right at the top of my list due to its proximity to ski resorts, expanding of the airport and long term strategic business planning of the area but I have very little knowledge of this market)2) Denver 3) Phoenix (used to live in AZ and like the fact that the state of AZ seems to look favorable on strs)4) Tucson (see above but lower home prices/potentially less appreciation)5) San Diego/LA (these are attractive because of their proximity to my home in Irvine)6) San Antonio (love that it is very close to the booming Austin and feel that this is a market that could see some real growth in the future)7) Tampa/St Pete (I have always been very interested in this market for both short term and long term rentals)8) Raleigh (have invested in Charlotte and love NC but again very little knowledge on this area)Any insights or advice on any of this would be greatly appreciated.

When commercial space is converted to residential there is the zoning and landlord/tenant issue on the one hand, and the Ohio Building/electrical/fire code on the other hand.

Are you trying to convert a pre-existing room into a bedroom to increase the ARV?

I also was thinking of purchasing the home and converting it to a group home.

I chose to convert to a long-term because my time is more important than a little more money.

With the tenants moving out, I'm toying with the idea of converting it to an MTR.

I'm invested in a property near the Grove that's executing that business plan now.At a simpler level, that might mean buying a house with a garage, converting the garage into an ADU, and renting out the ADU.I think a super solid first step to get into the LA market is to househack a home or a multifamily.

I think urban versus beach for example have different demographics.Not sure of your room dimensions but if possible I would do:Master: King + Convertible sofaBR2: Queen + BunkBR3: Queen + BunkBR4: KingWould also have pullout in living room.