But you will want to change the code for access right away as fired contractors can come back and take materials from you for other jobs.

Be sure to review property tax statements and verify any zoning or code compliance documentation.

We live in a very intersting, diverse, and complicated market and understanding the intricacies is very important - especially for a new investor.Markets in the same zip code even have their own submarket and tendancies depending on location and its important to look at things hyperlocally in philly.

Example: I define what zip codes (or neighborhoods) that I buy in.

What ghetto city/zip code in AR did you find 2% rule? 

This months zip codes all produced an ROI of 7%! 

Just for your own sake I would pick just a few zip codes to focus in on first and committ to reviewing/analyzing 50-75 properties on those zip codes.

You need his rank, time in service (you can even guess really, doesn’t vary a ton), and zip code.

But that doesn't seem like a good idea to me and would probably not be to code. 

For the modifications, cities generally focus on safety and code compliance, but since you're considering structural changes like wall removal and garage conversions, obtaining permits is key.