The plan would be to rent the four spaces, pay interest in private lender, and wait around 6-12 months to refinance and get most of the money back.

I am thinking of changing the plan to open up the kitchen and give the home more living space as well (an additional 500sqft).

Word documents work but when are you doing an long application, they are always space constrained and can’t have conditional entries. 

If you could find a four-plex, you could probably cover your costs with the rent income and have your own private space for free - or very cheap.Just out of curiousity, how much do they have to pay you to convince you to live in a market like that?

The leased space has this shop and a small parking lot, which can include a maximum of 3 small cars!

I found myself in that head-space and almost made a bad decision on a home that ended up needing an 80k foundation repair, and a lot of people found themselves in that head-space in 2007.

To save space and add eye appeal I replaced the bathroom radiator with baseboard.  

I am relatively new in the field but in my research and reading around due diligence saw this being noted everywhere and it made sense to me - particularly in single tenant leases which space is quite dependent on tenant factors.

My current employer leases (doesn't own) their commercial space, but occasionally sub rents their space out to other companies and individuals with short term agreements. 

Investment Info:Office Space commercial investment investment. 43 offices with international tenant, Regus, a leading provider of coworking spaces.