Live in one room (share the kitchen/living room/bathrooms, etc), Rent out the garage, parking spaces, rent out the basement or each extra room. 

I know that there are some extra requirements of the USDA loan like the property needing to be in move-in ready condition, but assuming I would be looking at move-in ready properties, are there any other hurdles I am overlooking in using USDA financing? 

I'm concerned that staging is not included in the services which I understand but who puts the extra touches like placing pillows where they go and such.

If the bathroom was added prior to them they probably won't know but still included the extra bath in the listing.

Simple, no extra bells.

Cherry-picking rehab costs won’t give you the full picture since everything ties into existing systems, permits, and infrastructure.For a garage conversion, you’re adding sqft  which means extra costs for HVAC, insulation, electrical, and possibly new windows or structural changes.

You will eventually reach that point, but it is wise to not miss out on thousands of dollars just for an extra couple hundred dollars a month.

Buy a sofa and keep the sofa bed to keep the extra-capacity, at the risk of cluttering the living room too much?

Don't rely on AirBNB and VRBO to cover ANY kind of damage let alone major house damage due to guests.Get a correct STR policy even if it is an extra $1000 a year (that is about what we pay) over a standard home owners policy.

That was easy and it was nice to have a bit extra coming in.