You're welcomeI can't see the mudroom from the photos, but assuming you can displace a couple of pipes and wires a little bit, how about this:Bedroom will be small but feasible with a twin bed or maybe full bed and a decent closet.If needed, you could leave the kitchen counter up to the dotted lines, but better move the sink until the edge of the mudroom window.Moving the Bedroom door will give you a decent stretch of wall for a cabinet/TV or a desk, as well as making better use of the precious sqft near basement door, it's really worth considering.Finishes can only enhance a good layout, but there's not much one can do with a bad layout.You know you have a good or decent enough layout when you can place furniture in a usable manner.

Most investors  purchase those precious few properties with cash.

IRA's, Stocks, Bonds, precious metals, art, real estate etc.

Death, Divorce, Dislocation, DensityDeath - very unfortunate topic, but death creates heirs that will have a lot of items to sort through, so a good option is people clear a house asap to rent or sell, then grab a storage unit so they can "sift through" things slowly over time.. many times NEVER.. and pay the fee instead of being "inconvenienced" to have to go sort through their mothers precious china collection.Same reason the rental increases for SS are crazy vs Apartments.. raise $150 storage rent by $9 a month = 6% rental increase. would you go rent a truck, take a full saturday in the 90 degree heat, hire movers, to move your crap down the street to save $9 a month?

A mutual fund might hold stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, futures, options, cash, precious metals, etc.If your time horizon is 2 years or less I do not recommend putting your money into anything other than cash instruments.

But I could also have spent those five hours looking for another deal, networking with another investors, or spending priceless and precious time with my family.

I would never do work again because you can't scale and it's more expensive when you factor in your precious time. 

Being startled awake from my precious few hours of sleep (said 4-year-old had a cough all night) didn’t start me out on my A game.I happily greeted my morning coffee and headed toward my home office.The first thing I needed to do was work on rental applications.

@Precious Thompson What is their claim to keep you locked in?

I fully realize time is The most precious asset anybody has and while I may not be able to pay for their services I will definitely find other ways to help such as working on their houses or whatever.