@Dan AudinoFor path #1, is your eventual goal to rent out the property?

Commercial opportunity

Most banks won't want to come in with a line of credit that is second lien on the property.

For investments, you'll likely want a conventional loan for commercial properties.

@Albert Gallucci as many have pointed out, in the commercial space of 100+ apartment buildings and offices, property classes have some pretty decent industry standards.We started applying these to 1-4 unit properties around 10 years ago, which you can verify on our blogs, because we saw too many newbie investors not properly taking into account things like, neighborhood status, tenant pool, property condition, etc.Unfortunately, there's no industry standard for this, but you can use some basic logic to think your way through your own Classifications.

If the desired zoning is next to your property, it is easier to get rezoned. 

Also, are you meeting with a "consumer" lender or a "commercial" lender?

Hotels are the baby of real estate investing and running a business.Unlike any other commercial asset class, hotels are extremely labor-intensive to run but can spit off ridiculous cash flow.

IF you are looking in the commercial space, you will want to look on the MLS but also with all of the commercial brokers.

Residential property rental: Could this be a scalable and profitable approach, or is it too risky?