The family member who agreed to lend me the rehab money and purchase money lives across the country and will be only be contributing financially.Is there a better agreement that will work better in my favor, considering I have done and will continue to do all the sweat equity?

In many cases the city is not in favor of converting 2 families into 3 or 4 unit buildings, because that would mean to increase parking and sewer by 50% to 100%.To make it a legal 3rd unit you will need to have two forms of egress (stairs), so pleople are not trapped up there.

Do yourself a favor and call the professionals.

The biggest thing you can have working in your favor is to go to a lender with an actual deal in hand and be able to explain why it's an actual deal rather than something you're just buying at market price and potentially overpaying for (as many people are these days).

Could she be on the mortgage and then it would be considered owner-occupied for a more favorable rate?

NY has laws that highly favor the tenant and in my area the taxes are high.

The math works out in favor of Condos and HOA almost every time.

The house is in an extremely favorable quiet neighborhood, near downtown, close to everything really.Do I find the number and call the property owner?

Most lenders won't finance an old manufactured home but our lender knows us and we put about 1/3 down, so they gave us really favorable rates.

Please do yourself a favor and become familiar with Fair Housing laws as soon as possible to avoid potential lawsuits.