I made a good chunk of money trading a couple of stocks I got lucky on finding but I also lost a lot.

Or you could just have a will drawn up for a couple hundred bucks ;)My lawyer friends always say "you can pay me now or pay me later".

@Ryan McEniff Couple of things I see: 1.

I can swing the 70K plus the 10-15K in repairs over the next couple years, I just won't be able to refinance ever because of the zoning.

I know this is a complete different path than what I have been striving for these past couple years but as I chase down financial freedom, I know that REI is the way to go.

We recently cashed out of a Brooklyn condo, and the equity would go way farther as a couple of down payments in better value markets.  

My recollection is that if it is your primary home for 2 out of the last 5 years there is no capital gains tax on the increase in value up to a $250K profit for a single person or $500K for a married couple. 

If I could add to what John Leavelle said  ; it could cost as much as $60,000 to do a full Rehab here in the Philadelphia Area        My Friend Sean just did a Rehab in the Port Richmond Area Close to Fishtown and he it was $60,000        Sean has done many flips and I thought he went as "Budget" as you possibly can , for an example ; he paid $7,000 for a brand new HVAC  (Heat & Air Conditioning)  with new duct work , where that would have been double in the open retail market       Good luck with the project & feel free to reach out to me if you need any help or have questions SincerelyRick      

I can recommend several but they are a couple weeks out.

So I'm brand new to this forum.