Any income you make from the tenants is going directly to your mortgage reducing your cost of living which is the #1 goal for house-hacking. 

SCOPE OF WORK: Basically, a lender wants to see that you thought this through and understand the costs involved.

It's got a large cost per night and our target demographic isn't "cookie cutter" like most listings. 

I’d like to hear how other investors feel about using “subject to” as the advantages of (1) no qualifying, (2) lower interest rates and (3) no financing costs seem like enough to turn a marginal deal into a worthwhile investment. 

By painting the brick you are adding to the cost of owning the rental that will come out of your profits as maintenance.

For example, I have found some very affordably priced properties in NY (state), but after looking at the laws in that state, they have very linient tennant laws that can take several months plus an attorney to evict, therefore not only losing rent but costing to evict. 

Might cost you $5k to $10k but it will help you lease that space to a restaurant. 

Have you looked into cost segregation studies, bonus depreciation, 179D, historical tax credits, etc.?

Costs less to let it sit than paying a contractor 2-5k/week, I'm going to DIY some, and the location is awesome so no need to worry about break-ins/vandalism. 

My first home cost me 10,000 out of pocket and now I have 600k in equity.