@Gentry BoswellYou should try speaking with a loan officer in the commercial lending department of whoever you bank with.

Documenting the security deposit via bank statements is the most common, and how "converting departing primary residence into a rental" is usually done if the homebuyer's income doesn't support PITI of both properties. 

I'm checking with the Publishing Department, but I don't believe you can get it without The Book on Investing with Low and No Money Down.

My ping includes a paraphrase of this too: The VA IRRRL sweatshops can eliminate the entire following set of departments, if the entire company is ONLY doing VA IRRRL refinances. 

I also have friends in permit department that made it easier to get questions answered as well.

Windcrest & Castle Hills will have someone from their police departments call you and threaten you, but again, really not much they can do unless they catch you doing it. 

You will need a permit although your contractor will handle getting that.You should go talk to the planning department to make sure you can build a garage there.A typical 2 car garage will probably run you between $12-20k.

For the most part an appraiser could care less how a property got to the way it is, he's just there to tell you what it is worth as it sits now.The tax assessor would be your issue and the building department in general.

Another benefit of these buildings is anything under 11 units usually skirts below the strict enforcement of the code department.

In Texas the Department of Real Estate is called TREC (Texas Real Estate Commission).