Sometimes they still have the garage door and drywalled the inside... meaning that they did not do a foundation on the garage door line : they did not use a deputy inspector, they did not use the appropriate hold downs (metals) for structural integrity, they did not use the right calculations for framing (ie rafters for ceilings ) that are often changed in a garage conversion... did not use proper headers for windows and doors... etc etc I have been faced with these a lot when representing the buyer and I would : 1.

Everyone who steps inside is wowed by the space and in awe of the 2-story wall of windows surrounding a 140+ foot redwood tree.

@Ryan BrayHUD will not turn on the utilities and my guess is you are outside your 15 day window where you could at your own expense provided that the PCR report did not find anything that would prevent it.Your option is to ask your lender if there is any work around such as an escrow for repairs or an as-is appraisal. 

Though the property and surrounding areas look nice in the pictures, the doors and windows has bars which concern me.I am just starting our my RE investment journey and all help is greatly appreciated.

A close friend of mine worked with a client who snagged a few acres just outside of town near the North Platte River.. it didn’t show up on the usual listings, but popped up through a local contact who’d been hinting at a seller looking to keep things quiet.You mentioned it’ll be a three-year timeline.. that’s actually not a bad window.

Look for things like whether the windows are new or old, if the property is boarded up, and any signs of structural issues. 

If we throw all of this out of the window, what would you recommend I set up for both asset protection, minimizing tax liability (including CA crazy $800 per LLC fee), and probate planing.

We did a 100% gut/rehab on a 1950's house in 2018 and converted it to a duplex, turned out beautiful, salvaged the original wood floors in parts of the house, put good LVP in the rest, simple plastic mini blinds on every window.

.- Most cities do NOT care if an owner lives in basement, but will not allow a tenant to unless baement has legal egress window.3) Check local statutes if any limitations on how many unrelated roommates are allowed.4) Check with local building dept to see if rental inspections and corresponding requirements.5) Local statutes allow locks on bedroom doors?

Lastly is structures, and to be honest I think we'd probably have to move the needle $100k or so on that item because I have a feeling from what I've seen thus far is these structures are not of the most durable enduring type and I will have some considerable cap-x over 10yr window on them.