I decided to buy the property from my grandfather using a gift of equity, which allowed me to take over ownership without having to come up with the full down payment and pay for the tax lien and his closing costs.

But lets say they do allow you.

This is because REPS reclassifies rental losses as non-passive, allowing them to fully offset active income.

Living in one unit and renting out the others allows you to deduct 75% of expenses like mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, and shared repairs as rental expenses, while the remaining 25% applies to personal use.

Evaluating different options from that standpoint will allow you to best determine what will truly move the needle in terms of your wealth building. 

This is due to bonus depreciation which allows taxpayers to deduct 40% of qualifying property costs in the first year, in addition to regular depreciation for new construction and improvement.

A conventional renovation loans will allow you to use preferred contractors, requirements are they must be simply licensed and insured.  

In person is better than over the phone if possible, as I have been told by annoyed or lazy clerks "NO STR allowed" as that was the easy button to get me off the phone, or if they are anti STR. 

The family purchased a lakefront property in a nice area three years ago but then ran into a series of issues, and have abandoned the place because of them.They are hoping the bank allows a short sale (asking for roughly $20,000 under what is owed)Here's what's made them so unhappy:Anytime they used the laundry it was dumping into a dry well, which would back up into the house forcing them to take their laundry to a laundromat instead!!

There are DSCR lenders will allow only a single 20 or 25% owner of an LLC to sign a Personal Guarantee (other owners are not on the loan, or liable for the loan).