With no liquidity and  no say but lots of fees I've always wondered why.  

My instincts say go for mixed use with a couple of stores on the bottom and apartments above.

The home was purchased for 525k after getting into a bidding war, and we've put in about 150k of our own liquid (also using a loan) to do some renovations and updates.

The problems I've had with these ambitions is either too much risk and not enough reward (Opening a computer repair store) or risking missing out on an opportunity because of lack of experience or not enough education (Becoming a VP, since currently all I have to offer education wise are books that I've read and a high school diploma.

I shred all of the paperwork after scanning and storing on an encrypted office network.

In my research, I have come across a common complaint: lack of liquidity. 

Many stores now run cash through counterfeit detection machines and call the police when they find any.Many stock brokerages stopped taking or giving cash in the 1980s when Congress passed the "know thy customer" laws to crack down on money laundering.

For your last point I need to double check my propstream filters to see if I am calling the owner of primary residence's but my line of thinking is that even if it's a divorcee's primary residence, most people only own 1 house and that house needs to be liquidated so money can be split between 2 divorcees evenly hence the motivation to sell the property.

The property includes 4 store fronts, including ours and 6 apartments above the store fronts.

I would also suggest to start partnering with lenders so you do not limit yourself to one or two projects based on your liquidity.