I had two of them and both had a “small room” compared to the other rooms that we rented on the cheap and there was never any shortage of people who were happy to have a nice, clean, comfortable, affordable room to rent.

I have a track record of why it went down with dealing with two broken legs over the last two years with a few surgeries in between and can show proof of all my surgeries etc.

But here I am, trying to put a really strong offer in on a home and I’m not sure if I should go in with the mindset that it’s a 3b/2ba 1,895 sq ft or a 4b/2ba 2,055 sq ft… Seeing as I’m going to rent this one day, if I myself decide to get it assessed/permitted as square footage (which I don’t know how much of a pain it truly is), I ran some rent estimators online (RentCast.io) and the rental comp differences between those two scenarios is about $2,275/monthly vs. $2,600/monthly, which is huge!

@Royal Simpson I'd like to point out there are two different steps to the process.

We are literally block from viewing two properties due to this law.

@Andrew Stouse Started out close to 30 years ago at age 21 with some shady business partners on two owner financed apartment buildings.

Rather than simply accessing part of the equity using a cash-out refi you could sell one of those properties and use the proceeds (now with 100% of the equity available including the deferred tax) to purchase two replacement properties.  

I am learning from all of you, and one day I hope to be a source of wisdom for those who post here.Since I  last posted, I have had two parties sign up on Airbnb for the place, so I am booked till the end of June. 

Should I look for something cheaper, or consider renting an apartment for a year or two?

You can always start off on house hacking a multifamily in MI 1-4 units with min 5% down or 3.5% down for FHA.