These are generally pretty painless to acquire.You may need a general contractor's license to do certain renovations on a property - particularly those requiring permits.

Hi BP,Found out today while filing for permits for a garage door replacement on our recently purchased SFR here in Southern CA. that the shed we build didn't comply with setbacks and the city wants to do a code inspection in 2 days due to suspicion of us trying to rent a 720sqft permitted addition in the rear of the home built before we purchased. 

Also the addition with no permit history is a huge red flag.

Pay attention to leading indicators like building materials or permit pulls.3.  

In Denver metro you can add (1) lack of available land on which to build, (2) cost for water tap fees, and (3) extremely backlogged city construction permit offices.

A general contractor takes on a whole project, deals with permits and the overall project schedule and hires the subcontractors (plumbers, electricians, etc.)

A permit was pulled, and the inspector passed the work, no questions asked.

I will follow up Saturday / time permitting.

Do you know if adding meters requires a permit?

Probably would also be a good idea to discuss the case with the attorney that's handling the foreclosure for the seller, if the seller would permit you to do that.