I've got the architect's drawings ready to go, we're about to pull permits, but I know they don't have the cash to get past tearing down the illegal 2nd story addition and closing up the second floor (ext framing, siding, roofing).

I did my final walk-through on the 2nd, and I was super impressed with the condition they left it in.  

Do we need permits for any additions to the house to be "official" on the MLS listing?  

Other lenders tack on additional requirements.

Additionally, does anyone own/invest in Finneytown?  

This may be a long post, but I thought it would be good to walk through everything step-by-step, and explain my thinking along the way.If you want to stick with me through it all, here we go:I was not going to be getting a conventional mortgage for my first property for a number of reasons.First, I am still annoyed at the hoops I had to jump through to get a mortgage for my primary residence.Second, my liquid cash was on the lower end.Third, the properties that I would need to start out with would not be financeable anyway.Fourth, my DTI is on the high side, due to the decision that we made to take out a HELOC to complete interior improvements on my primary house.So, I decided that my path was going to be to form a single member LLC, and take a loan from my 401(k) at work to finance the down payment.Since I do not view the 401(k) loan as a long-term solution, I am treating like hard money, and pay it off ASAP.So, my first deal would be a flip, or a rental that was such a good deal, that I could re-fi out and pull all my cash out.I decided to reach out to the commercial lending department of the local credit union, which I am a member.The person I talked to (who became my lender) is fantastic.I told him what types of properties I was looking for, and that I’d look to turn them into rentals, or to flip them.I will never forget his response, which reminded me why I love this credit union.He said:“Typically, the deals you are talking about are much smaller than the deals we like to do.However, we also realize that you can not get to that level unless someone helps you get there.So, if the numbers make sense, we will see if any of our products fit.”Awesome!

I am upper 30s and looking at this for additional income and possibly a career change.

I know I will have to pay incomes taxes as apart of this conversion, but I've been doing some reading and can't seem to understand if I will also be hit with additional taxes as a result of something called "pro-rata rule".

In addition, those terms seems too good to be true for a legitimate HML.We have funded many deals in NJ and we are local, I'm sure we can fund your deal if you want to work with someone local.

I think if you are willing to get out there and just be "you", you will find that the world of real estate is a pretty accepting place, and under this big tent you will find people from every walk of life - introverts and extroverts alike.