My partner's lawyer put in a motion to appeal it.

If you can answer those three and the deal still seems appealing then you should seriously consider moving forward. 

I close on an older 1950 small 800 sf house Monday and am planning on remodeling so I can market it to a different class of renter then was currently there. Am curious what idea y’all would suggest to get the most ban...

I'm essentially going to rent (pay for) 2-5 bedroom units from local landlords at full price, and then sublease those rooms out at a markup (I wouldn't charge tenants broker fees and I'd give them flexible leases to justify the markup, among other things).To the landlords, it would essentially be guaranteed rent from a trusted company, along with free tenant screening and property management (i'm trying to make it as appealing as possible to landlords, as you guys are generally hard to sway). 

Also, any advice on what are some things I should prepare in order to appeal better to potential lenders? 

One of the appeals of commercial real estate is how inefficient of a market it is as compared to the stock market for example.

I love leverage but when I get into my 40’s and 50’s the thought of being millions in debt and managing 70-100 properties doesn’t sound too appealing.

Or, if you put some money into fixing up interiors or enhancing curb appeal, could you bump rents to $1200?   

I have been in the rehab and remodel game for 25+ years so this market appeals to me as I understand the flip process intuitively.

It is important to use similar properties, you won't want to compare the subject property with a big box national brand retail property with an A-credit tenant on a 20-year lease, for example, because it doesn't sound to me like that is the type of tenant your subject will appeal to.