The design criteria and review processes contained in this Chapter are provided to protect and maintain the established character of all residential neighborhoods within the City.9.43.015 OBJECTIVESIn order to maintain neighborhood compatibility, any proposal for construction within a residential zone shall comply with the following objectives:(a) Natural AmenitiesImprovements to residential property shall respect and preserve, to the greatest extent practicable, the natural features of the land, including the existing topography and landscaping.

Work with people that know your character first!

Also, depending on your area, a house with those attributes and size could be in demand a rent high so check your local rental rates to see how your cash flow would be.

Sale price - selling costs- purchase price - improvements - depr = Taxable gainPortion attributed to depreciation is at ordinary tax rate not CG up to 25%

It won't matter that it's secured by your personal residence.It gets much more complicated in reality, because you would have a mixture of business and personal use, but the point is that your interest will be at least partially deductible, and in a much better place than personal itemized deductions on Schedule A.Once again, if the property is never rented for profit - then the interest attributed to it is not deductible unless the loan is secured by that same property.

Heather, sounds like the landlord is an unethical character. 

I attribute this to a couple of things: 1) LA vs KC is a major price difference, LA is actually about 10x more expensive. 2) culture, in KC people are generally honest and trustworthy, much less true in CA. 3) litigious culture, related to 2 but generally more litigious in CA.

No one ever asks for references or any other qualifying attribute.

All have been very successful and I attribute that the buying theproperty right.

Trends are great, but sometimes people make the mistake of sacrificing the character of the home by replacing everything with what will fit into a modern momentary trend.