Being IT background myself I would have separated / sub-netted each floor for performance and security but that may be overkill in this instance.

In negotiations, I knew what I needed to pay and I knew what I needed to get and that helped me not get emotionally invested on either end of the transaction.

A typical row house with separated English basement runs about $900k, so I'm planning to start out in a less expensive market.

As it is now its all sort of open with no true separation of rooms from kitchen to bedroom.

I wasn't aware that tax appraisal and bank appraisals were separate.

Don't get caught up in the emotion of competitive bidding. 

Again, I am not a financial professional but the government assigns your retirement account it’s own personality, it’s like a separate person, not you, because it’s a tax free account until you withdraw the funds and pay taxes.

Currently the guest house is not separately metered for water or power.

I’ve grown emotionally attached to a couple of those properties too.Since I’m not mortgaging anything, I am just thinking of the buying potential I would have if I did decide to leverage some of those properties and start diversifying.

Be analytical, never emotional 6.