Don’t alter your minimum requirements to fit a potential tenant.  

-- can this be altered if a business pays the premium? 

Of course, our lease does not allow tenants to alter the property, that includes removing walls just as much as removing trees.

This cannot be altered in any way and is reflected in the online bid therefore becoming part of the net. 

There are plenty of lenders that don't require experience to lend, but leverage/rate might be altered a bit.

I also know TOPA is a thing here in the DMV area and I'm not sure if that should alter any real estate investing decisions I should make.Also, since I would be house hacking, I would want to live in a relatively decent area.

You should know the following:What websites your property is being advertised onHow it looks on each website (some make alterations)How many views your property is getting on these sites (Zillow makes this easy, others share no data)How many showings you've had scheduled and how many completed (there's always some cancellations)Feedback from showingsYour PMC or agent should be giving you updated CMAs every 30 days to see if the market is dropping and your price is in synch.

Unfortunately some local regulations may change altering the business potential or plan.

My thought is to buy a large home, alter it slightly so it's set up for roommates instead of a family, and then rent to individual professionals that work at the hospital or local school district.  

Unfort. water is getting very expensive as well but I have not altered billing at present.