Was just curious if househacking would be a solution. 

No of course not. 1 deal is better than no deal.. even if I make 4 deals from your direct mail campaign while you just make one deal ^_^Solution... in order to make it in this business you can't be a mere sheep, following the masses, doing what everyone is doing.

However, you need a solution for when they don't (and let's hope you never have to use it). 

Repairs- I don’t see any other solutions here than having a bunch of handy men I can call with repair requests.

According to the bank they are following the Fannie and Freddie guidelines.The solution does not seem clear to me.

I'm looking for a cost-effective solution to bring the room up to code. 

That is one solution I've not considered suprisingly..

I was wondering if someone more familiar with property management may be able to provide their own solutions to some of these questions?

Go with the flow of the existing trees, rocks, geography. 

I don't want to continue this process unless I have a faster solution or a professional do it for me.