I know my main man @Sterling White invests heavily in indy and would probably be an awesome connect.keyword: Indianapolis indiana - just so it pops up on keywords for local indy investors.

Conventional avenues (i.e rocket mortgage) and local banks could be an option again as nothing is in your name.

Being off the kitchen would not be an issue but having the exterior door in the bedroom would probably rule it out as a bedroom because of passing through. 

Proper Insurance would be an option for you.

If the Federal Law says the animal must be an animal that is normal kept as an ordinary household pet, I don't think the states can loosen that restriction to allow "any" animal because that would violate the Federal limitations. 

As long as a you have enough equity and a competent loan officer this should not be an issue. 

Do you know if a new micro-brewery is in the works for the neighborhood, or a new local coffee shop?  

Profit is income.A lender is looking for how much money you have to pay a mortgage payment each month so looking at your revenue would not be an intelligent way to evaluate the situation because you could have lots of expenses and some businesses actually lose money. 

What would be an ideal first step to take to begin my journey?

I wanted to see if there was anybody in here that's in Los Angeles County or any of the surrounding areas that would be down to link up for coffee or lunch?