One way that I was able to get into my first property was counting 70% of the rental income of the other unit on a duplex.

Financing your second property can be tricky since lenders may only count 75% of rental income toward your debt-to-income ratio, so get pre-approved early.

Our prior STR experience didn't count for them.Got it.

Sellers are notorious for not communicating any changes in their unit counts to avoid paying taxes.  

That is on one of the largest arterial streets in the city, massive traffic count.

in general, celebrity and notoriety add something, but it can range from just a neat story to an advertisable theme.don't neglect it, but don't count on it. 

In this case, you can use Rental Income from the units that you will not be living in and that income can count to help you qualify.FHA rates are going to be lower than conventional for you almost always, but FHA does have a 1.75% funding fee. 

Quote from @Eduardo Perez-Borroto: Since the HELOC was not used on improving the home you cannot deduct the interest, nor use that to offset your capital gain.Would adding a battery bank system to my solar panels count as home improvement? 

What's left is simply $ to close (HML easily solves that) getting the vendors to do the "simple stuff" (pick your platform; Angie, Neighborly etc etc) and than to sell it (more agents than one can count happy to list). 

RM-4.5 zoning would allow for a higher unit count and could provide more flexibility for future development, regardless of ADU policy changes.One potential benefit of rezoning before any citywide expansion is that it might allow you to lock in additional density rights ahead of any potential restrictions or revisions the city could impose when expanding the program.