So to be as transparent as possible, I am coming into this industry with no connections or friends to leverage my position.

If this is your primary residence, you could potentially still be eligible for the capital gains exclusion - and wouldn't have to make that decision to sell right away. 

I have always known the power of real estate investing but the navigation of its possibilities personally have been often halted by lack of money and career searching in a financially unreliable industry. 

Is this an industry standard?

By the end of 2020, lenders and banks had learned their lesson, and stopped trying to compete on that basis (lo and behold,  once everyone stopped trying to be a rate whore, Q4 wound up being the most profitable quarter ever, for the mortgage industry, and Q4 is normally the slow season!).

Since I have worked in the oil & gas industry for 20+ years, this was a reasonably simple transition for me.

@Sharon CarsonSpeak to your tax advisor to understand what the tax burden would be upon sale.You should know what the tax basis is if you are treating it as a rental.The current depreciation is based on the tax basis.Regarding section 121 exclusion - There are different rules if you treated it as a personal residence then investment property vs investment property first and then personal residence.Best of luck

Hello, I’m brand new to this industry and have not started my first property yet.

Find out what the going rate is in your area by asking local groups in the industry. 

This Mother in law unit has an excellent partition that enables me to rent short term or commuters,traveling nurses etc there is also another exclusive unit on top that I don't have any problems with.Not renting the ADU is not helping the numbers work and there are not many renters in my area who will consider the entire apartment including ADU.