A few electrical and plumbing issues were found during the inspection which again had to be repaired (payback for skipping on a good contractor) but we closed on-time and I was out of the deal.

Check out these links:Here, here, and hereBut these aren't helpful as you are looking at options for unpermitted work, so don't expect leniency in not only approval for something the city is merely trying out, but also something that was already completed without any permit approvals whatsoever.My advice is to skip this deal.

If you had the funds available, with some cushion, is it advisable to skip the HML and $7-12k cost, and purchase in cash?

I have not proof read this, so I may have skipped stuff in the explanations. 

To be honest, unless your area has super relaxed laws, I would either negotiate the unit to be vacant prior to acceptance or just skip it altogether.

Had she availed herself of these services, the time demands for the program would have greatly diminished for her.The sole monetary issue in this is a charge for skip traces.

just skip those finish the rest of the test and then if you want to do the math come back and do those last.. u dont want a math question to come up when your starting the test and derail you.. 

If I have all of the above, I'd skip the warranty.

My heart skips a beat as I imagine the bills of digging a new gas supply line out to the street.

You could do skip tracing.