(cost of repair is about a month’s rent).Besides a none renewal of lease which only a few months away, any recommendation on what to do next or another strategy to address the situation would be greatly appreciated.

You may also get lucky and be at 80% LTV to drop off the FHA MIP monthly insurance.

Converting the garage and its basement into two studios would generate about $3500/month in additional cashflow.Happy to discuss more if this kind of a strategy piques your interest.

Happy to connect depending what exactly you are looking to do, and to discuss strategy to get there.

Does having the capacity to pull a business loan or business credit card benefit strategy in any significant way?

That is what I did to start investing and buy my first rental unit if you have any questions on different strategies or want to go over your thought process let me know I would be happy to answer any questions for you. 

Thx so much MelanieAs I understand it renters insurance doesn’t cover appliances correct?

There's almost no rentals in the neighborhood I'm searching in.If our strategy is BRRRR - is it a good thing that there's a low number of rentals in the area?

In that case you should be open to exploring more hands off REI strategies like funds, REITs, etc. 

It's a powerful strategy that allows you to build your real estate portfolio without using any of your own money.