They have a bathroom included but it was not disclosed that we should check on the status or anything like that. we assumed everything was permitted. 

I should also say that it's not hard to figure out why people have stopped grabbing the permits.

Did you pull a permit? 

As @Cole Bossert said, you can/should get it retroactively permitted (if you buy it).

Stuart agree on development deals but on rural acreage that your going to build one home on and there are no real entitlement process to go through other than a permit for driveway and pad or septic permit.. these can and do create some value when done right.

You can see what they offer today in terms of teaching how to get a billboard permit and lease it out.

We want to get a Vacation Rental Permit for stays under 30 days for ADU but current zoning doesn't allow it.

While I don’t have deep pockets,  I would like to leverage my professional expertise at getting land permitted at no cost for a stake in a development and use that money to reinvest.  

You have to have a permit and they limit the number of permits.

Sb13 does state in general terms who gets to determine a unit is unsafe.I have taken it to mean that if it is of the quality of a licensed contractor but simply not permitted then it is legal for 5 years (which has already been extended once).