I am interested in investing in commercial property (apartments with 4/5 units) or office space in NYC or Long Island.

I did call the permit office for Baltimore County and they said no permit would be required by just adding the closet.

I looked at an office building a year and a half ago that was listed by a "resimercial" agent. 

Does the family have  to pay me my money back for IMPROVEMENTS  when they pay what they owe at the Jefferson county redemption office?

We considered renting an office space or even purchasing a commercial office but the market seems rather soft where we live and we thought purchasing a townhome would give us the flexibility of space for out of town guests, some storage (we currently rent a storage unit) and give us space to spread out in terms of workspace. 

When qualifying for a loan, the mortgage officer makes sure your debts do not exceed 30% of your total monthly income. 

This house is plaster as opposed to drywall used in modern construction.The carpenter would nail the slats to the studs and then apply plaster.    

If you rent, them it’s easy to show it as owner occupied, and no, no one checks on you if you ever move in or not, only VA loans might have a knock at their door from the VA office but I have lots of borrowers even on those programs and didn’t move on. 

Although he's big on some pre-internet tactics such as door knocking to ask if people had friends or family interested in buying a house, and wanted me to go to realtor's and mortgage lender offices to make connections with them rather than call, some might argue these are still effective tactics.

@Brendon Seiffert your loan officer should be able to explain this to you without "waiting for the underwriter".