There is a difference in not allowing homes to be bought as rentals and homes allowed to be bought as principal residences and then converted to rentals. 

Most of use who have converted their first home to a rental (with a high ltv, but low interest rate mortgage) don't cash flow for quite a while. 

:) :) :)We are buying a house that has a converted garage, however it was converted without a permit because the square footage still reflects as garage on our property appraiser website and when I called the city for all the permits on the property they didn't mention any garage.We would like to do it correctly, so obviously that means going to the city and getting a permit, and going through inspection, etc etc.  

I own a 2 bedroom condo and I want to change the carpet in the living room to laminate. Can we do this while the tenant is still in place? Does that create any hazardous conditions while the work is going on?-Dinesh,

Based on the comps, I leased less than the market rent and planning to lease per market after expiration of the current lease, so I may be able to make additional 100-150$ a month.During the weekend, I get a chance to meet tenant and during the conversation, we both expressed our interest in converting this lease to 'lease to own' option as the tenant is having not so good credit history and like to buy this property after he is able to repair his credit.I have neither done 'Lease to Own' transaction nor do have knowledge in it.

My partner/contractor feels like we overpaid for the amount of work that was done.Something else to think about... our home had a garage on slab that had been converted to an addition and tied in with the rest of the house.

Am I better off just trying to maximize the building's energy efficiency as much as possible, or is it worth trying to convert these expenses over to the tenants?

But the current owners was talking about converting the heat so tenants pay their own heat.

The property I bought is a single family home that was converted into a four unit rental in the Virginia Highlands right next to the Beltline.  

After you've used that property for a while as investment you can convert it to your new primary and sell your old primary - voila!!