The biggest issue for Baltimore and frankly any rust belt city is the rise of remote work, Baltimore is cheap for a major job center, but it’s not that cheap period, pretty much any area west of Frederick county or east of the bay bridge has ample housing stock for sub 300k and imo a better quality of life, so the one thing that Baltimore has going for it pre-pandemic which was a pretty solid mix of Fortune 500 companies located downtown has been significantly reduced & downtown is a ghostown now.

Alternative income options are available but will reduce the maximum loan to value. 

Can someone review and help us understand if there is something we can skip and reduce the costs.

Definitely seek some expert advice from an accountant or CPA who can advise you on the best ways to reduce the amount of taxes you owe to the IRS

So I started trying to get creative on how to create a win-win-win for all.Here’s how it went down:I got the sellers to agree to an asking price of $180k, a full $40k over what they originally wanted.In the offer, we included a seller credit of $34k.This strategy allowed me to cover the extra commission for both the buying and selling agents and ensure the seller got exactly the cash they wanted should they have sold it at 140k.With the seller credit, this reduced my total out-of-pocket expense to just $6k.I used a commercial DSCR loan product with a local bank.

It is true that you have to honor the lease, but in my case, the risk was reduced because it was tenant at will. 

I would check in with @Joseph Chiofalo they lend nationwide and focused on investors and they also have STR specific purchase programs that might be able to reduce the actual HELOC amount required.

Account ClosedNo problem, every landlord has different criteria and having run across too many so called "self employed" it is better for me to reduce my risks by simply say no.

As for selling with 10% down at 8% interest, you now have two title transfers that violate the due on sale clause and add complications to subject to “safeguards” that reduce risk if note is accelerated, if party in possession doesn’t pay taxes or insurance, and of triggering whatever system the lender has set up to notify them when a deed transfer takes place. 

Do you reduce the risk if you occupy the unpermitted unit?