I've not checked Arvada or Westminster codes, but these are illegal in Wheat Ridge, and I'd bet money they are in Arvada and Westminster, too. 

@Kathleen DeNault-Ridge Its sounds to me the banker is coming from his perspective...maybe find out how much mortgage is left if it's less than the 30% down then maybe see about the payoff being the downpayment and the rest of the terms (thier monthly payment) talior it around the cash flow of the building where you can cover expenses, pay them, and make a profit after that a I'm pretty sure a real estate attorney can write everything up.

his suggestions was to starting on the roof with a ridge vent.

San Diego is a great town, loved it, even opened a real estate office there in a prime spot by the Shadow Ridge Country Club area in Vista ( It was ground floor time) and another in a little one room setup in La Mesa, and lived near Bird Rock.

I did a gut rehab on the 1700 block of Wiely st ( 17th & ridge ave area )The three story row cost was $ 180,000I’m not sure what you can do with $75kBe careful!!!  

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/422-Timberline-Ridge-Ct-Winston-Salem-NC-27106/60299709_zpid/How would you go about deciding which way to go?

I wouldn't be that concerned about it myself, if you are, get an engineer out there, make sure they don't give you a load of stuff and tell you the house will fall down.....I'd be concerned about the soil being unstable, might look around at other houses in the area, as you can, and look for settlement.....which may be seen in the ridge of any roof BTW.

hey Mike I live in wheat Ridge Colorado just west of Denver.  

How many ridges, hips, and valleys are there?

Newer homes generally escape with repairs, primarily to ridges and valleys, which are the most easily damaged.