Is this the first mistake or is there a pattern?  

@Patricia Baker the ideal scenario is to talk with several contractors ahead of time, and have the one you like the most walk the job with you and give you a general bid for labor and construction materials.Then you have the fun time of setting a finish budget and managing to that, as you can swing a budget widely with the tile and cabinets and lights you pick out.

As i'm looking for a lender, there seems to be a recurring pattern of confusion all around about the proper guidelines.

As i'm looking for a lender, there seems to be a recurring pattern of confusion all around about the proper guidelines.

And the pattern for most folks is that paid off debt usually reappears. 

I’ve read that the kitchen and bathroom are (usually) the best places to lay tile because they add the most value.

We relocated the washer/dryer and the water heater out of the Kitchen and completely remodeled the kitchen--significantly increased the usable space in the kitchen.We also built a tiled Turkish Bath and completely remodeled the bathroom.

That is just one example.Continuously/ making a pattern of taking the loans out in your personal name and quit claim deeding it to the LLC only makes the LLC look like an alter-ego of yourself. 

I've heard something similar from a handful of people so I'm seeing that pattern for sure.

You may not see huge growth this market cycle in particular, but I feel like there is a lot of potential for future growth because the pattern on renovations from Highland Park seems to be trickling that direction.