My husband and I have law school and medical school debt that excludes us from traditional lenders.

If you're still looking to grow, don't pay down any of that sweet fixed rate, long-term debt.  

I am currently in the process of obtaining my first buy and hold property..my only dilemma is which route to go in order to finance the property..to give you guys an insight on my scenario I have good credit (740+)..access to down payment money (10,000-15,000)..no prior investment history..Im not sure if I can do a conventional loan because my debt to income ratio may be too high and from my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) Hardmoney lenders are typically better used with flips and rehab properties..can anybody help me understand my options to financing my first buy and hold property😩..thanks, Shane

It sounds like that is not happening.The next course of action after reaching out to the HOA would be to seek legal advice if no one is willing to start work.

I was also going to call estate sale, estate clean-out and debt consolidators.

Just going by the 50% rule, you are hardly breaking even and probably losing money.The garage apartment: is it legal with a CoO?

yes, it is legal and happens everyday.  

The only thing that it could do is lower the amount you can borrow for the investment due to increasing your DTI, but 10k isn't that much. 1.9% is pretty low and should be easy to out perform the debt...

If you're in a niche market out there and you're one of the few people combing over legal notices then I guess maybe you win?  

The key, IMO and experience, is in how you present it to them and to actually avoid legal proceedings.