Non-Permitted Work, Additions and ADUs - Opportunity or DOOM?!

[Daniel Porter]

hey bp! happy Thursday! 

So i've been walking a few properties, ugly properties, and ive found two that would work for my house hacking strategy. The problem is i've been checking permit records on them, and nothing has been pulled in regards to converting these single family's into multis(or ADUs). on top of that, they're zoned Single Family. 

For the record, i thiiiinnnkkkk dallas has a By-Right ADU policy now (you can build an ADU w/o city permission in a SF zone), but i'm pretty sure you still need to pull permits for plumbing and electrical.

on the other hand, there are BOATLOADS of adus in south dallas, and nothing is permitted. haha. i read a local article saying only 17 ADU applications were submitted in all of 2020-2021. everyone seems to just be doing it anyway. 

so my question is, do i immediately walk away from these properties? has anyone figured out a way to creatively handle these situations, or create some sort of way to legally protect yourself? 

any help would be much appreciated!