Unpermitted Dwelling...yay or nay?

[Kevin Phu]

So I was driving around a neighborhood of interest today when I happened to see signs for an open house of a property that I was interested in. Turns out the open house was last minute as the buyer backed out of the accepted offer yesterday. Agent says they don't know exact reason why. Agent at open house isn't the seller's actual agent I believe so couldn't get too many details out of him. 

In the backyard there is a unpermitted unit. I would estimate about 400 sq ft. Has a full bath and kitchen counter/hook ups. 

What are some things I should consider with things like this? Previous owner had rented that unit out before. Current owner just uses it for storage.

[Kevin Phu]

Originally posted by @Josh July:

I would say no because if the person you find to rent out finds out its not permited living space than they could try to use that as leverage to not pay ren; therefor the only person you could rent/ let stay is close family or friends because getting it properly zoned and up to code is a whole new can of worms (aka it can open a sh#!storm of problems and headaches).

 Good point. What if I were to lease it out as say...an office or work space? Would that potentially bleed into a commercial thing? This entire lot can be accessed by front and back. Both accesses are actual roads and not alleys. So my thinking is it could be used for a personal office and pretty much have its own access. Of course, back to the previous concern, would that involve some type of commercial permit....