I don't have a ton of advice but did want to mention that I struggled to fill spots as well when I lived in an apartment. I had a LOT of no shows and cancellations. I had a great ad, phone interview always went really well but once I gave them my address for a meet and greet they disappeared and never got back to me and I strongly sensed that it was due to my living in an apartment. The clients I did sign on we're living in apartments themselves so I think they could look past my location. Things changed quite a lot once we moved into a townhouse.

If you are renting out two apartments in one building could you not drop one and save up for a house? As a parent I'm not sure that it would sit well with me that you have two apartments in one building. My fear would be that you go back and forth between the locations and leave the kids unattended (not saying you actually do this though). What if you just did daycare in one apartment but take less kids and promote a low ratio? Surely without that extra apartment it would work out financially?