thxs for the responses so far everyone....I find myself running into issues that I define as 'grey areas' and I am appreciative of the opinions from others.

Another aspect is are you looking for move in ready or are you interested in a fixer upper.

So you can visit the basement, watch tv in the basement, knit afghans in the basement - but based upon the egress requirements you defined, it cannot legally be used as a sleeping area.So, if you do as you propose, and the housing police show up, you can try to sell them a story that you are not actually using the basement as a bedroom, and you really sleep on the couch upstairs, and you only visit the basement to assemble puzzles and play solitaire.

@Dev Horn - Dean's group also said that most people who pay for the service never use it, but that isn't an aspect of the gurus, that is an aspect of the people who pay.

It is a great place to meet new friends and learn about various aspects of real estate and more.

I have 11 rentals and don't have any staff.Remember Mark does a lot of flips and is a RE Broker as well.I'll guess that the staff he mentioned works in all aspects of his RE business.

I enjoy many aspects of the military but periodically imagine whether or not I could make a decent living to support my family working for myself on my own terms, which is probably why I'm drawn to real estate.Neither my wife nor I have ever owned any property.

I suppose too that many aspects that appear to be consumer protections will have a greater business advantage if you drill a little deeper. :)

Since I'm reposting this aspect again, I'll cut to the end.

Once you have a road map defining what you want to accomplish with real estate, you will be able to answer your own question with ease.