Very generally, 7-8 sq. ft. per person is a national average so if there's less than that you are likely in good shape (NOTE THAT THIS is a Generality, some markets support less storage and others considerably more).  

Basement is good height and partially finished, so I'm going to spend a little more money to finish that up and make it a nice, usable space. 

That would be a real consideration for me.

You could try something like Washington Heights in Manhattan or parts of Harlem, but again, anything that has a quick, direct route to midtown or downtown Manhattan in a safe "cool" area is a half a million investment right now, for a 3 bedroom, way more.

On a 4 unit property, 75% of the rents from the three tenant occupied units must cover the mortgage payment after taking market vacancy rates into consideration. 

What about a concrete patio, door height the width of the area that comes out on the left and extends to right to the driveway where you could step down.

There are stairs going down to the boiler and water heater and the ceiling height is about 7 ft in that area.

It could be Florida for example and if you want to build it in Colorado....I doubt they took into consideration the kind of snow loads required in CO.

Aloha,In your lease, did you define "maintaining the yard" (how often; maximum height; fertilizing/weeding; shrubs and trees too, or not; irrigation; etc) ?

One big consideration is how well can you know multiple markets from a distance?