Overall, I don't see an issue, those lots can be really charming rentals, kind of like "bungalow" style units.  

So, call the city and see what they say about it.Finally you want to get all this done as politely as possible of course, I know you do, and those southern charm skills will come in handy to make it happen!!! 

I think some potential tenants think if they meet the landlord they can charm him or her into thinking they're great, as if that will somehow waive the fact they don't meet the requirement.

Con artists are really charming. 

As soon as you pop that can of worms, be prepared to go fishing for existing issues with the property that may need to be brought up to current IBC, Residential may maen proper handrails and accessibility egresses, whereas Commercial may be a bigger pill to swallow going so far as sprinkler and fire suppression systems.

At 1200 sq. ft. and mostly original, this home has that old-school craftsman charm, but will need to have the 800 sq. ft. garage converted to a DADU (detached ADU) to have great cash flow.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $552,000

1904 Craftsman on a street that dead ends into a park, right next to the future light rail station. Will need ...

Part of the appeal of the Heights area is all the charmingly restored historic homes.

Now, I can do a lot of things with the space, however, as it is dry, has a loading dock, is at least temperature controlled (might be climate controlled as the building has been used for document storage for a decade), and has a dry fire suppression system installed and working.

We are also ensuring prices in the neighborhood aren't suppressed due to a RE "run."