Antwan,I'd love to speak to you about Columbia. 

If you end up speaking to them, send my regards.

We also have about 40% equity in the house so the thinking was we could take that and leverage more than we are now to step our game up so to speak.  

Once you select one, speak with the loan officer and get him the documents he needs to do the pre-approval.

Knee walls look better and do the same thing structurally speaking. 

I am studying BiggerPockets, speaking to people in my network like my agent and my Uncle, another successful property owner.

What you really want to do is speak to a local Zoning attorney.

Definitely makes sense, its a higher risk form of funding forsure, but seems like a good option for someone who doesnt want to rely on their own credit and does have an exit strat A lender is going to look at the quality of the deal and how much skin YOU put in the game.

I agree with @Oren K. that maintenance/cap expense is not primarily a function of the rent amount or purchase price but more a function of things like number of bathrooms, quality of interior, square footage, attached vs detached, type of exterior (siding), unit requires HVAC vs just furnace, etc.  

Are there any specific scripts that you use when speaking to them?