First, the bank has a federal requirement to provide a payoff demand within 7 days of the request (The requester has to have a legitimate basis for their request such as borrower authorization to do so), absent very specific exceptions to that timeline, and where the state timeline is less restrictive (More than 7 days).

Specifically, I’m trying to figure out how to create a legitimate business that shows income for the purpose of gaining future lending.

Hi all, was busy/away for a bit (including on an REI trip to Ohio), but will find a venue and organize something very soon! 

I don’t know how legitimate they are.

Another issue is whether a 1031 is legitimate in such a scenario, but it's also a different conversation. 

Just the other day, Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai was discussing new cost-cutting measures at Google such as decreased hiring, potential layoffs, and, to the horror of The Googlers...slashing travel and entertainment budgets, such as suggesting they tone down holiday parties and hold them in Google's offices instead of other venues while making them smaller in size.  

Would love suggestions for a venue/location for a get together where we could meet, discuss obstacles and lessons, deal analyzing, or otherwise talk about news on a biweekly/monthly basis.

You need to figure out how you are going to legitimately add value to the relationship. 

Old warehouse converted into an event venue.

I think she has a legitimate concern (if I understand the scenario correctly).I definitely see the value in house hacking in general, but I question whether the overall value is worth it considering the stress and difficulty it could put your wife (and, indirectly, you) through.