Quote from @Sunil Ghosal: Would not recommend the East TN region to anyone right now.

In practice, this could mean 5 extra days that no rent is collected.  

A good real estate accountant can save you thousands of dollars by leveraging entity selection and formation, tax deductions, cost segregations, bonus depreciation and tax planning.I recommend finding an accountant who specializes in real estate taxation, business taxation, financial planning and tax planning.You may want to consider working with your accountant remotely to expand your options.I would also recommend looking for a accountant willing to work with you throughout the year.

I would recommend reaching out to @Denver McClure as he may be able to help with a non-conventional loan

Does anybody have any recommendations on small/community banks that they like to work with?  

I would recommend searching for local Facebook groups to find events to attend.

I would recommend having a conversation with your tenants and letting them know of your interest in selling the property to gauge their interest in terminating their lease early - or if you have a termination clause, invoke it. 

When you go to sell, Montvale requires a certificate of occupancy so this issue has to be resolved in advance of a sale.Although I am not a lender, I assume you will not be approved for an owner-occupied mortgage on 5-units if it is a legal 4-unit without some type of mortgage fraud whether in reported rents, units, or another legal document or representation (very very large issue from a legal perspective with multiple arrests in the last year for anyone playing fast and loose).As far as the DCA, I would recommend coordinating your work with the city with the DCA.

If you purchased a property, it is recommended to perform a cost segregation study prior to improving / rehabbing the property as it is harder to document after the fact.

However, many times its just not practical or cost effective to put the work into it because in many cases its not easy to do.