Anybody have any experience with New Western?

He has helped quite a few BP members successfully house-hack in the same fashion that you are looking to accomplish. 

How did it compare to just building the old fashioned way as far as price etc? 

Finding out what you need to have in place for both the construction loan and the main mortgage might help you to attract and choose your partners in the deal in a wise fashion.

Yes the home may sell fast even without staging if it's a hot market, but *good* staging (not crap, old fashioned staging or over-staging that hides the house and makes it look cluttered) always increases the market value, so why should we only strive for that in a slow market?

Hi Varun, I'm also from Altoona and have a few properties in Western PA.

I am in western PA.  

This code is about as restrictive as you can get and still allow STR in some fashion.  

I was in Boston and now I am in Western MA.

My brother still runs the business.This past summer, our legislature initiated, and now local municipalities are adopting new development rules to try to accommodate the housing needs in western WA, so it will be interesting to see more zoning changes in the coming years further into the suburbs and beyond.Reach out if you have any questions or comments.