My number 1 tip would be to go off market and find owner that wants to sell at a discount / prefers speed and convenience. 

While buying one that’s up and running might seem a good idea - paying for speed - if you’re not quite ready, sometimes the best deal you make is the one you don’t make at all.

so I'm wondering if around $50k is reasonable to get a smaller single family home up to speed where it looks something like what you'd see on HGTV.   

Another step is to ask your current lender if an expedited post-disaster inspection can be arranged to speed things up.

Expect a custom ADU to take 9–18 months, with 3–6 months for design and permitting and 6–12 months for construction, depending on complexity and contractor availability, and the speed of processing permits.

God speed friend!

@Kevin Sobilo I was speed reading and wasn't actually looking for a perfect analog but your assessment doesn't sit well with me either. 

Honestly, upgrading to a commercial-grade stackable setup like Speed Queen or Maytag might be your best bet.

Even something as simple as utilizing ChatGPT to speed up certain processes such as asking for generalized information on a market's demographics and immigration patterns can be useful and save a lot of time.

There were comments by 2-3 of the 7 planning board folks commenting on the speed of pushing this through and not understanding the relative priority or urgency of this specific topic.