Either way, I was advised by the lender that if the building are side by side there is a possibility to regard them as commercial.The point is, that it is easier to add value by increasing NOI when property is appraised by  it’s income.

It can be very difficult for self employed and small business owners to finance a home because their taxes do not always show a lot of traditional income.

Is there room to increase rents? 

This will allow you to study the market and understand what homes sell for in your area.People may potentially not want to recommend their realtor(especially if they are good) because they may think it is increasing their competition in the area. 

Learned that unless you make justify an increase in price, the additional just isn’t worth it.

Building on Omar's good advice, I would say it is more difficult to succeed in investing without a game plan in mind.

However, I do see that contractors could get sick of this if they saw no increased business and I had them bid a job a week. 

Just send the info every year with your tenants Info - nothing difficult about that.

@Chris Mason - how has the rate increase effected business? 

My thoughts would be just fixing it up will increase the value.