A house 3 houses down was for sale and got bid up and we thought it went for too much.

@Elan Adler - I think the reason you are not getting much in the way of responses is that you will not find a house for $250k here that rents for 2k. 

Starting from the basic, a house has laundry and a refrigerator and a place to eat, to be with your family.

Same process anytime you sell a house that is leased out.

If that number is greater than the purchase price of the house, then I would consider buying the property after looking at other factors (location, condition, neighborhood, zoning, etc).In other words, 6 straight months of rent should pay for the house. 

Congrats on serial house hacking!! 

Typically you want the debt with the property and putting that debt on your primary is generally a no-no unless its short term.If I were you I'd pull out 70% equity from the rental property, go find another house under market value to fix up and force appreciation. 

2) Does old carpet bring the house value down?

Then we get the house back. 

You can do all this without a lawyer, but mind you, expect your house to be trashed.