It also depends on the physical characteristics of the basement, as others have pointed out - fire egress, ceiling height, window size, etc. all matter and affect whether the city will allow the occupancy. 

Not an email, not a text message, but physical forwarding address? 

Doubtful they will do your loan in the way you described.FoAC has a nice product for that, but you have absolutely got to have a good rep that will shepherd the loan through their process. 

Almost 4 years ago I've transition from years of producing and working in video production to rehabbing and developing real estate. 

If you only invest where you physically live, you are limiting yourself significantly.

You have to be a self-starter though since there isn't a true physical office to head into on a daily basis - most all of the training and support is online. 

Hello Ally, I highly reccomend working with an agent at Marcus & Millichap, they have excluive listings across all 50 states and canada in all commercial real estate product types: Multifamily, Self-Storage, Industrial, Triple Net Retail, Mobile Home Parks.

Do you physically meet them at all, ever?

Most if not all brokers will come in .25-.75% lower on comparable products.

Are there non-recourse loan products available?