The style of the home, the space you are trying to heat, the price point of the property all play a role.

Talk to a lender about refinancing they will be able to let you know what you qualify for, but you will probably be sacrificing a higher interest rate for lower overall payments.

Decide on your learning style such as in a classroom or online. 

The old "octopus" style systems are all garbage, and they have a ton of windows, so energy efficient they are not.

Month to month leases are not short term leases, usually they are 1 year leases that are transitioned into moth to month when the lease term expires thus making this completely different from Air BnB style rentals

One other caveat: these are townhome style condos, and are legally described as "building and unit" not "lot and block".

Though it is in good shape, it has an old pre-war "feel" and has not had the usual flip-style renovations that you find on Zillow.My questions:1 - Should the house be priced significantly less than renovated houses of a similar size?

I think my main barrier is that I work a lot and have a tough time sacrificing more family time for a meetup.

Another way to do it would be to start small, and do it JV-style.

A split level foyer (as much as I hate that style) is almost ideal for this.