The problem is if you do it on single family (also known as boarder income) you can't count the boarder income toward qualifying until after they have lived with you for a year.If you go multi you can count the income, up to 4 units.

That money is intended for tuition and room and board so why not count it as such. 

@Jon PuenteBut my wife can move first… does that count?

Perhaps if I had asked for my answer in the form of a sonnet I could have gotten an Elizabeth Barrett Browning inspired “Let me count the ways” response.

Again, that assumes that you're not counting the permit phase and it assumes that you won't need a new septic. 

The cost to the REI is $100k and they must recover $100k in CF before they can count any profit. 

Floor is just painted concrete, and that includes the 300sf which the county assessor counts as fully finished.I'm reading that DSCR rent appraisers may not count partially finished space at all, and count fully finished basement space at only 25% of the rent of main floor space in the same house.What are your thoughts--is this how it typically is for DSCR rent appraisals?

But also restaurants often have set parking counts per sq ft of leasable space, and other uses may have the same.  

You often can’t count the rental income to offset the cash-out loan until you have been receiving rent for a period of time…often 1-2 years.  

- building small units in small counts is near the most expensive development possible.