Afternoon, I currently live in Austin, and although I don't have any legal issues, I would like to find someone in the city or nearby who offers affordable help for landlords and real estate investors. 

Hi Peter —Generally speaking, it’s difficult to get a definitive answer on the legality of rent-by-the-room in single-family residential zones around metro Atlanta.

Which utilities can I legally require the tenant to pay?

You can absolutely finish the downstairs — electrical, insulation, framing, replacing the garage door — as long as it’s still one legal ADU with one kitchen and one address.

If you can prove malicious intent by the tenant, you may be able to make a claim against your insurance.Consult with a lawyer, but if you proceed with legal action it is likely the only one to make money will be the lawyer.good luck 

Until the claimant is represented by legal counsel.  

We spend thousands of dollars per month on fraud detection systems and they are virtually impossible to catch without them.

And the 180 day time period make it almost impossible to get it done.If possible, you could find a builder willing to take title to the lot and you could go into contract to purchase the completed house and lot from them when completed. 

Taking partial payments can make it hard or impossible to do an eviction if needed so be very wary of that!

We obtained the full financial package, and the seller's "Pro Forma" is built on a complete fantasy.The descriptive reason for the high cap rate is that the seller is using deceptive and impossible expense projections.To get their advertised 15.26% cap rate, they are projecting that as their Gross Rent increases by $75,900, their Total Operating Expenses will simultaneously decrease.Here's the breakdown of their math:Taxes: They assume $0.00 in property tax increases, which is impossible.