The owners split the house in two while enclosing the garage to create a 3/1 and 2/1, in addition they enclosed a back patio area to make an efficiency studio area 1/1 no kitchen. 

There are some additional discounts for having auto insurance with the same company but I didn't include those.What does the HOA cover?

The actual "lock up" happened when people started finding out smart people were betting against them in the form of credit default swaps. 

After taxes, that is 52k per year in CA, which means you need to save an additional 20k annually over the 70 you have.Living off 32k in Santa Barbara sounds improbable.

So, all of this to say that though nothing in life or investments are guaranteed, there are some companies out there with stellar track records and means by which these things can be analyzed to make for a fairly safe bet, at least in so much as a sustainable dividend payout goes.

If possible, it sounds like your best bet would be to invest in a quadplex (4 units) to house hack.

(Addition, Renovations,  etc.). 

Should you convert the attached 1-car garage into additional living space?

We are going to apply for a small business loan to open the LLC and for any additional start-up costs. 

Additionally, this property is close to the airport so there is a lot of potential to turn it into an airbnb hub, leading to more cashflow and of course, more management/cleaning time.Long story short, would you take a deal with these parameters:- Asking price $165,000 (pre-MLS price) - Duplex consists of: 1 bedroom main floor and basement unit & 1 bedroom upstairs unit- Total rent: $1600/month (tenants pay utilities)Addendum: I just bought my first property with 11% down (before I found BP), so any suggestions (or links to forum posts/blog posts/podcasts) on creative ways to finance this deal, please let me know.Thanks BP community.