@Julie McCoy I would be at my parents farm on the weekends anyways, but this would shave an hour of my drive each way to work and about 100 miles total off my vehicle each day. 

I BRRRR'd my first vacation rental property and used the equity to purchase another STR and a traditional rental.I think your friend is talking to the wrong bank(s). Have

The basement suite's ceiling is spackle so it cannot easily be removed to add insulation or spray foam.

There is better transportation to consider back to NYC from Philadelphia direct do keep in mind and shaves off 30 minutes using mass transit.

Cristina S. Have

So 1 person completely gutting, wiring, hanging and finishing drywall, painting and then laying or refinishing floors is roughly 70 man hours for a bedroom. 2 people should shave a bit but not much off the total man hours.

S ,Shower and shave . 7 am ,  Drag the 12 year old out of bed , tell the 9 year old to wake up .

@Kyle M. and @Thomas S. have both mentioned equity.

A well-shaved craniumEverything else is personal preference.

I've shaved my eyebrows because I couldn't get globs of crap out of them.