@Mike Brown - Tenant improvements are negotiable and that is ironed out during lease negotiations.

Another option is look for capital improvements on your existing properties.

The city will always tell you what you can't do unofficially, it's when you get the attorneys involved they will tell you that yes you are grandfathered and you can make improvements within the original zoning. 

Also, do all the minor repairs with the major improvements to ensure all the expenses can be capitalized as repairs are not capitalizable if you do incur the repair expenses separately.

Purchase price: $1,300,000 Cash invested: $130K down + $140K in improvements Sale price: $2,000,000Here's a quick video overview of the experience we gained owning this building: What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

If you buy a rental for 100K, and do 25K in improvements your basis when you sell is roughly $125K. 

@Andrew Casal you'd want to ask the building department of the city or town.They'll usually want you to be specific about what it is you're looking to do, rather than answering a general "what requires a permit" type question, but it sounds like you already have an idea of what your project will involve.I think you might be slightly better off describing it as a repair vs. an improvement or something new, if that's reasonable for what you're doing.

Not to mention, you will improve your property, which will increase its value. 

Now that the property is improved it’s worth 400k and you sell it for such profiting at least 200k.

We improved some bad electrical work (a two-pronged system that wasn't grounded) and did some light cosmetic paint as well as added safety features in a few areas.