I know there’s a limit of 4 unless you get a kennel license, so I’m also searching to find a place in which I can apply to obtain one.

It's all about the location, you might be able to buy a cheap house, but if it's in an area with nothing but other cheap houses and in an area that is "not desirable" you're not going to make much money on it, either in improvements or rent.

NYC DOB considers a shelter a 'community facility with sleeping quarters' and may require a special permit for this use.Thanks Abel, You provided me with the right search terms to dig deeper. 

Feel free to reach out if you still want some assistance with the search.

On the other hand, keeping the house could allow us to maintain an appreciating asset in a desirable location.I’d love to hear from others who’ve faced similar decisions.

A loose plan in hand is better than a dozen frantic Google searches, trust me.

For my long term rentals I am no longer purchasing in New York State and I am going to be searching out of state in a more landlord friendly state such as Ohio or Pennsylvania.

I was trying to find some public documentation that Ronald Folsum is the CFO of Norada (google search) but came up empty. 

For example:Second, under their "About us" link, click on "Management" and you'll see a "Meet the Team" page where there's the following photo/info for this James LaPushner fellow you mentioned (which says he was born in New Zealand):However, if you do a reverse Google image search on this photo, you'll find that it's posted on several other sites, including this one: https://planetaseminarov.ru/people/konstantin-baksht.htmlHere's a photo of him from this page:This page is written in Russian, but if you translate it, it says his name is Konstantin Baksht, he lives in Moscow Russia, and he is the owner and CEO of the international consulting company Baksht Consulting Group. 

Best of luck with the search.