Your main concern should be whether these bedrooms and bathrooms on the lower level are legal and have the proper egress require for fire code and livability.

His 40-plus years in real estate speaks for itself, and his unquestionable devotion to providing his expertise, advice, and thoughts here on BP have earned him a level of respect on this site that you apparently are unaware of.He will not condemn anyone simply based off a black and white forum.  

Once you have consistent, high levels of cash flow then consider the “company vehicle”.

That will get you from zero to about 80% knowledge level.1.  

At a county level will be an uphill battle imo, but I'm not a local so I'm going off what is out there in the public docs.But really think Black Mountain will be the right place for what we are trying to do.

And following this convoluted rabbit hole calculate what kind of property you would need to exceed the profit level you have right now. 

I have STR investors in Florida making 25% cash on cash returns, long term rental investors picking up properties directly off the MLS and cash flowing day 1 in various states, and house hackers completely removing their housing payment from the picture allowing them to save for for the next property.The beautiful thing about real estate is there are so many ways to succeed and a plethora of strategies depending on your comfort level and how active you want to be.

And the top tier agents have their ego at the deal level.

Again, others might feel differently here.3) property level due diligence: (takes seconds to weeks per deal): here is where I drill in with the low-level details.a) pro forma popping: I examine all the assumptions, and see if they are overoptimistic or not.

Learn the lawsDon't use a contract "off the internet", laws vary by state and are also regulated on a federal level Learn the financing techniques correctlyDon’t skip parts of the processDon’t ever do a “kitchen table” closingUse the proper deedAn attorney can help you with the legal work, but the rest you are on your ownYour guru will not bail you out“Investing” in someone else’s deal by providing a small 2nd loan so the “investor” can pay for “cash to the seller” and for “closing costs” so he can do the deal is a very bad planKnow what problems can ariseLearn the responses and solutions to problems before they are needed Know everything there is to know about Title and what that meansKnow who a "protected class" individual isLearn the "back doors"Learn human natureUnderstand timelinesUnderstand regulation enforcement (some of these "mistakes" have a 10 year statue of limitations ( they can charge you 10 years AFTER you do the transaction) and carry hefty fines and possible imprisonmentThe court doesn't accept "I didn't know" for an answer"Know that the source of the lead plays a serious role in some states and federallyKnow how much of a "profit" pushes the boundaries to invite an investigationYou can be sued by the seller if you don’t do things correctlyYou are automatically at fault if an investigator or attorney or regulator gets involved.