As a veteran and now civilian myself that’s exactly what my situation is. 

Just moved back to Texas after husband left the military, and getting geared up to start building our civilian life.

I would like to limit the amount of people who will inhabit it at one time as we will only have two queen sized beds and a couple couches.

I would love any and all suggestions, warnings and opinions on any aspect of this project, but my main concern is knowing what to look into when it comes to the legal side of turning a non-inhabited building into a fully livable guest suite.

Many times, these are small pieces of land with a mobile home or two already on top of it (usually vacated and inhabitable). 

Most of WPAFB are mid level military, and a lot of civilians.

In Massachusetts, in the case of a fire or other similar instance where the property isn't inhabitable, the tenants can seek $750 in relocation fees.

Roofing and most trades fall under your regular building permit.I recommend getting in habit of doing it right.

With the way things are going I would rather invest my money than leave it in the bank.Ideally I would like to buy a multifamily home to house hack, but without having a job lined up on the civilian side in order to get approved for the loan we are going to end up renting something until I can get that squared away.

That is one of my fears, not being able to make the mortgage, in terms of vacancy or inhabitability.