Just show up at their office,  in person, unannounced and introduce yourself--say you want to talk about real estate.Be polite and nice and I can't think of why anyone would be so rude as to blow you off...

The residential units should cover the basic expenses leaving the office space downstairs as my upside.  

Call your city zoning office and ask them.

Charlotte Metro), or find a loan officer/broker for it.I started the application for a credit union and it had asked me how much of a loan I would like, not sure because I haven't found the property (yet).

Not saying it's  a scam, but there are plenty of loan officers that charge no fee to hassle with that mess.

It definitely will be more demanding than working a limited position in an office (certainly to start).What I really want to find is someone who might be able to offer some advice or even work to help my transition from "processor for someone else" to "Mortgage Broker for myself."

To the left of the home the property has already been converted to a business offices (although it looks just like a home on the outside).

Reach out to the seller, let them know you need to come to financial terms on a settlement, or you will be pursuing a civil case as well as turn over the falsified documents to the Attorney Generals office in your state for mortgage fraud. 

That’s a very simple question to ask your loan officer.  

I mean if you or I bought a flip and put a 7% fee on the CD for that stuff we'd get laughed out the closing attorneys office, but we don't run the most well known name in all of Real Estate.