Could be they were on big lots and more pool house type or who knows.You might also have better luck if you are leaving the garage for use, and building the apartment on top of the garage.Let us know if you have success and the war stories.

Both of these may impact your DTI.One of the difficulties in holding properties for a long time is that equity builds up (either naturally or by forcing with renovation), and I need to sell or refinance to get the equity. 

Quote from @Austin Prewett: The land comes with the house, so you're looking at the value of the entire property.The only reason to consider the land separately is if you plan to tear down and build on the land, but even then you are considering what the final value will be with a home built on it.

@Bryson Williams look up the rules for your state, in Virginia, if you own the property you can pull your own building permits and do your own work, this includes the mechanicals .

I needed all of them  RE license to sell RE  Mortgage to do private loans in the states that require it.. and contractors to build the homes I am building and then on top of that I have a developers license in Oregon ( no test required just a money grab And when I was figuring out what I wanted to do I got my pilots license around 20 too.. as I really wanted to be an airline pilot.. but alas in those days it was very hard to get hired not like today.

If you need help with construction design, build, management of property I’m here to help.

My land is also buildable and I have plans from an architect for a 3 bd/2 ba home which would cost 300k to build (it's in CA) and is in an excellent STR location...but I'd need a construction loan to build it.

Once you get to know what other people have done, it will be easier to see what you need to do and use their recommendations to build your team.

We can discuss further when you are ready for a deal review!

Your lease or statute may address this, but this is clearly endangering the lives of fellow tenants in the building, which is non-curable.