Hi @John Daniels - the mortgage company I work for, Assurance Financial, is based out of Baton Rouge and we have offices throughout Louisiana.

He launched a small OZF to revitalize a vintage office building in a transitioning neighborhood.

Here are a couple of developers you should take a look at Trion Properties, their principal Max Sharkansky posts here on BP, https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/top-5-markets-multifamily-rentals-2019and Feldman Equities out of Tampa (3rd generation real estate family famous for having built the terminals at Chicago O'Hare) who are among the only ones opening up downtown skyrise office buildings to accredited investors.

It is already off putting that I could not be allowed even to use a tent or trailer, RV, mobile or tiny house even temporarily.

The easiest spot would probably be the dining room and change the office to more of a smaller dining area. 

You must keep the tenants security deposit at a bank that physically operates a branch office in the State of NC.  

The equity pay down in many RE classes (residential, storage, hotel/motel, office space, industrial, etc) ispaidby the tenant.- there are ways to never pay tax on gains (1031, owe until death, etc)- cost segregation can in effect have RE acquired at no cost- sweat equity can produce additional return.  

In the past when I am looking for a property manager I google to find all managers with physical offices in close proximity to my properties to narrow my search and ignore all sponsored adds that fake that they are local.Since you have self managed, you will be better equipped to "manage the manager".

but working with someone who is local to your market, who can show you their legal documents that they have used, introduce you to a proper title/attorney office for drafting documents...I mean, nothing is foolproof...but that route will have a significantly higher success rate. 

my wife and I have small positions with Bam and have also met in person with Ivan at his office in Indy..