To give you a example, would we be able to buy a single family house and separate a area off for us to live, and rent out the rest of the house by the room to others, essentially creating a faux duplex all in the same house. 

., don't know the vintage of your building, but if there is lead paint and/or asbestos, demo can get more complicated. 

We don't buy fancy clothes or jewelry.   

"Day care center, I think you can figure out which property.What do you think about putting a vintage Airstream trailer in the back yard so you have 2 short term units? 

https://youtu.be/mdMiQPfFWxs DIY faux granite kitchen countertopshttps://youtu.be/00MZILROPecSpreadstone Countertop Finishing Kit https://youtu.be/K8SIbb77b_EI have seen painted counter tops in a friend's rental but she is very neat ad careful, so I don't know how that option will stand up to tenant abuse. 

I could possibly free up space for the second shower by putting in a tankless water heater and repurposing the closet where the 'vintage' unit currently sits.

I wanted to show an interaction that with a FAUX lender..

I have a long term tenant (retail vintage store) and a 1 bedroom apartment attached at the rear of the building. 

The houses are mostly 1970-80 vintage.

Neither is pretty,The difference is that these bad guys on American greed are all running Ponzi schemes  investor money in.. goes to their account they never invest it and .. they buy them selves all the things that they must have,,, IE  big house,, airplanes, boats , cars,, jewelry for trophy wife  etc etc. and the investors get scammed.those buying rentals have an asset and if they can manage it propertly and buy right up front they stand a chance.. if they buy poorly and think someone is going to do all the work for them then they end up in your scenerio