If you have extra money to give away, I guarantee I can find charities that are in greater need than your tenants.I also disagree with small increases over multiple years or even over a one-year period.

meet with a lender and go thru the formal pre approval steps to know for sure ..if the 15 yr fixed payments dont work for approval - fall back on using 30 yr payments ( and then just pay extra to payoff the loan quicker)  

It took a little longer than expected, but totally worth the extra time.

In addition, should I pay the extra 600 to bring the rate down to 4.99%?  

The truth is that I'm not all that notable hahaBut humor me for a moment and pretend that my accomplishments are notable enough to pass their test.

Rents should try to reflect any extra costs you incur so long as the rent remains in line with the market rate.

It should be mentioned we will still be nearly doubling our investment with the prices she is suggesting, but could potentially be missing out on almost an extra 100k in profit should we finish and list at what I think it feel the market would support.  

oh also - if you are going to allow pets, especially dogs, get extra cash for them. 

So if you need extra money LOC is an open option. 

I am thinking maybe getting something on the cheaper side and remodel it, (although I have zero experience in doing that and I don’t think the bank will give me extra money to do the remodeling).