A foreclosure that has un-permitted building

[Shaun Teacher]

I attended a foreclosure auction recently and learned of a great potential deal.  Full disclosure, I am very new to everything and might learn from everyone that it is a horrible deal.

The house is in the bay area California. The ARV is in the $1-1.5 M neighborhood and the foreclosure starting bid is for about $463k. The property is in a rural area with 2 structures on it. The property was not subdivided so both structures are on the same APN. But the large house appears to have been built without a permit. If I buy this at auction, can I just pay a penalty to bring everything back to good status?