It is currently 2bd/1ba with an illegal half bath that I plan on getting permitted.

The property I have has power disconnected, and to connect it back I need to hire a licensed electrician to pull a permit and do the work.

This of course impedes much of the renovating that's needed, but I'm also concerned that even if I could get the permits for the renovations, I won't be able to resell it down the road.  

@James DeRoest,sorry i could not be of help, but maybe if your time permits, you could go by a lighting showroom (no big box stores) and run those questions by them (usually they know about this or have electricians installing this all day). i recommend one specialized in modern/contemporary lighting.in the worst case you got some free coffee, nice ladies to look at and maybe some clearance items or some networking with lighting designers...

They'll give much better advice than myself.Make sure you know the laws of your area when it comes to pulling permits.

Finding the deal is typically worth 20%, so that leaves 30% that perhaps they could split with the managing partner (who is taking care of permits, legal, insurance, all the admin).What other methods could you propose to stick these guys into a real estate deal without them having to spend 2 years getting educated or birddogging/wholesaling in a market where the traditional wholesaling tactics don't work (there are NO lists to mail in Ontario due to privacy laws).Lets say they need about 40k cash boost to put their DTI and down payment funds in check, but more would be better to reduce mortgage insurance costs.

We had a conversation with the realtor weeks ago and she assured us that the area we are looking in would be "totally fine" to have a basement rental - only historic Annapolis is where you need to have a permit.  

They started an "express" third party review of plans for permitting to improve the process, but at least one company I know of is backed up six - eight weeks on that.

Do you have to pull permits in your city for demolition of existing walls?

Permit office didnt have a problem giving me a tear down and rebuild permit .I dont want to rebuild the structure , but with the permit , when the property is subdivided , it adds value to that parcel due to an " valid bldg permit"