@Steve Meyers I’ve been running this with some success with a local cincinnati agent on 2+ units and nationally with a commercial broker for shopping centers.

We made some infrastructure changes and have been running great since. 

You run the numbers on the project and stress test it.

I have a small landscape business (less than 7 workers) of over 30 years and have run my business out of my home for the past 25 of those years.

Maybe do a fireplace on the outside way and run the vent to the original outlet in the roof.

PA and NJ are fairly close so you may not run into that nearly as much.

You've probably heard of big Landlords losing property, but only because they were flagrantly violating Fair Housing, running a slum, or otherwise violating the law in an egregious manner.

Try a local mortgage broker who can likely even run an income scenario for you.If not, there would be many DSCR folks like ourselves that would be happy to help.

If you’re still sorting through your taxes, it might be worth running it by your accountant. 

Let me know if you have any questions on the process of appreciation and even tax advantages, especially since y'all are engineers!