He had done a bunch of landscaping and I was a little scared because the man was a little aggressive

(Personal service includes the fields of health, law, engineering, architecture, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, or any other trade or business in which capital is not a material income-producing factor.)7.

The builders got scared and dropped their list price by $15k.

You combine this with large IRA and HSA  and health care premiums and my tax payment is a fraction of what it once was.This is great for tax but now we are ready to buy a new home and even though we have strong cash flow, excellent reserves/credit - tax returns are not showing the profit. 

Details are, makes $71k a year working for the state mental health/prison system.

As long as its meet 51% of residential use and commercial use will not affect the the health and safety of the occupants of residential property you should be fine. 

With this 4 pillars ( finance, health, mind, and empathy ) you have a strong foundation to find happiness. 

Going through the Lowell MA website (https://www.lowellma.gov/625/Health-Permits) , I saw a rental permit ordinance.

Like natural disasters, car accidents, losing jobs, divorces, health issues, lawsuits, injuries, death...

Spending also slid in health care and goods (such as clothing and footwear).