The second and third floor share utilities, with the second floor covering utilities for the third floor, and the tenants agreeing upon the set temperatures, etc.The appraisal came back and said the appraised amount is contingent upon "proof that the third floor has all proper permits (building, electrical, and plumbing)."

Have the furniture and such appraised and sold, or keep what you like; clean, fix, update, and then sell that bad boy.The other ideas are all well and good, but require probable rezoning, permitting, licensing, ongoing inspections by several government agencies, and a willing operator that OK being tied to the place to begin with.

Fortunately for me the market I invest in provides access to; 1. tax assessment 2. code violations 3. permits pulled on property 4. account number for water utility and owners direct contact information so I don't have this issue. 

They still required her to be a signatory to the mortgage and to be on title ... and would not allow my portion to be held in my company (their policy did not permit companies and individuals to jointly own property).On recent visit to that same lender - with another partner - I was told having me on the deal would put things under far more scrutiny and greatly slow-down the process ... despite the partner having more than sufficient capacity to carry the mortgage on his own.I think if you find the right lenders and set things up in advance (almost like being pre-approved), @Julie Broad's approach still has legs, but my recent experience (this past year) is that it's becoming more difficult.

So the next step was to attempt to get permits.

i received a 'Rehabilitation Loan Permit Certification' document required from our Lender to close our 203k streamline loan.  

I'm in the process of purchasing a single family investment property.I'm planning on doing all of the cosmetic repair work myself.I am not a licensed General Contractor.Do I need permits for cosmetic work?

The broker we're working with said there shouldn't be a problem re-financing into a permanent non-recourse loan after 15-18 months.The developer has all the expertise to oversee the build (finalizing the architectural design, dealing with the permitting, serving as GC, etc).

We are doing this one by the book so we have pulled all permits and scheduled with the borough to do the inspections.

I’m just not sure I can get the permits.