If there's an extra house on the property, it will be hard to find something similar and it makes for a very difficult and expensive appraisal that may or may not work for a lender.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it.We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

Or buying a house and using your extra funds to convert part of it to an income suite (like the basement)?

Most former active duty I know who invested either bought a house after a crash and had other active duty officers as roommates (and one also took care of deployed officers' dogs for extra cash!)

Many try to make illegal extra units and if you rented that out and someone was killed or badly hurt, you are going to get one heck of a law suit filed on you. 

Freedom is worth more than a few extra dollars in the bank.2.

So I'm wondering what my best option would be for this extra cash.

Build in some extra income for yourself to take care of the things you know he can't take care of...

Honesty and the willingness to go the extra mile.

I personally negotiated a new deck, roof, and some other extras.