check your local building codes but usually:no pass through, needs a closet, has a windowyou can label it as anything you want, but it is not "generally common and accepted" to mislead people and you are setting them up for being dissapointed when they view the house.Also, you don't get much extra value if any from a 4th bedroom vs. the 3 bedroom with living room

If anyone has some insight into the market it would be greatly appreciated.What areas/zip codes are best for rentals?

I believe the difference with a short term rental is if you ever intend to use it as a second home, and it is strictly rental income. 

Even in a very strict location like Orange Co, CA, I know the building office was helpful enough to show a landlord what was required so that they could get their permit without a formal professional set of drawing plans.For sure you want to build with an approved building permit if required and meet their requirements.

That's why I'm thinking maybe they're screening tenant very strict.

@Ari Dehbone here are the areas in SoCal that allow for Non-Owner Occupied short-term rentals (NOO STRs for short):Palm Springs: 36 total stays/yrFullerton (near Disney Land)Laguna Beach (non-residential zones)Huntington Beach (Sunset Beach area as long as you apply before 3/1/22)Santa Barbara: Inland (NOO in commercial zones and STR-Coastal Zone Historic Overlay Zone), Coastal (NOO unregulated, but court ruling allows for it)Joshua TreeMalibuBig Bear Lake (92315 zip code)Newport Beach (R-1.5, R-2 or RM Zones)You'll have to do your research on specific properties for cap rates and cash flow, but these are the areas I would look in.

If you want to change to using an LLC, keep in mind you want to run it strictly as a business and follow any corporate formalities.

Under the current code, owner-financers must have a Residential Mortgage Loan Originator license from the Texas Savings and Mortgage Lending Department. 

Hey Everyone, During our due diligence period, we found that we will most likely need to bring up an older building to code in order to build out an existing structure to multifamily in Tampa, FL.

Right now the house would not pass code in many respects, so it's nearly certain that some repairs would be deemed reasonable and reimbursable if the previous owner exercised his right of redemption.With that said, BRRRR is still on the table!