My question is why you want to bring it up to code, other than just to feel good or improve your exit strategy?

Too bad you can't buy something owner-occupied, put 5% down with the best interest rate, live in it for 12 months (and fix it up), rent it out and repeat the cycle.Here's some other info you might find useful:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

I'll be happy to refer your partner whenever there's a client ready to start a project.

I highly suggest getting to some local meetup groups...here is BPs list:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521-real-estate-events-...I also have a full list of the chicago meetups that I can share with you too if that'd be helpful.

Happy to connect

Quote from @Simone Montague-Jackson: You can house hack with up to four units.

Hi Gabriel, glad to connect.  

Welcome to BP!

Meaning that if you fund a $5K EMD and then decide not to close you lose the EMD, or you pay for an inspection up front and risk missing out on the deal while you're waiting for the report.

Evan,You are going to want to check out SONYMA and Home First for NY.