The last think you want to do is live in an illegally converted garage, then see the city come in and red tag the unit for no permits. 

My favorites are currently Red Tractor here in foco and High Hops in Windsor.

What i do know is tenant took the time to paint the apartment on her own which includes colors of green, blue and red and she had her wood floors stained because “she was tired of the color” i suspect it was to hide scratches and cat urine spots. 

2) Are there any “zero tolerance” red flags that make you walk away immediately?

Anything else is a major red flag.Also look for actual lenders NOT brokers.

If someone came to me and said invest here but they aren’t investing there as well, mmmm red flags all day long.  

With the Lower Mainland red-hot housing market showing obvious signs of slowing down, there are opportunities to invest in our own backyard, from the Fraser Valley to Lake Country. 

.- The red lines are my annotations, which show the recent inventory for June.

All the success stories I hear related to this tend to involve much older properties.As their agent, when you go into contract on the initial purchase, I'd put it in writing that they are aware the space is unpermitted and they should be prepared for the following:- appraisers may not give full value for that space- if a building inspector is at the property for any reason, they can red-tag the space and either force permits to be pulled or have the space returned to its original form- if something happens to the property and an insurance claim needs to be filed, if there's any chance the problem could have been caused by unpermitted work, they will most likely lose that claimAnd, last but definitely not least ... when you go to sell, both you and they should be putting it in your disclosures that you're aware the space is unpermitted and that all the work was done by a previous owner.Good luck!

I just bought a duplex today by the university.If you look at this post there are maps posted with red outlines of good areas to invest.