I think the terminology you are giving me will help a lot in my conversations with the city and county officials.

Non-permitted use  which falls under zoning, zoning ,zoning , ie; illegal conversions 

I would suggest starting from the beginning and starting to read about various aspects of buying, renovating, renting and reselling:- How to find financing- How to evaluate deals- How to estimate rehab costs- How to schedule renovations- Etc...Also, it's not clear what your exit strategy is here (long term rental, resale, conversion, etc)...that's something you need to decide.Regardless, start reading the forums, check out the Beginner's Guide, etc...

Here are a few recommendations for you:Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing Check out BP Podcasts: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/podcast/ If you wish to tag someone in the conversation on the forum, type @ followed by their name and then select that person below.

Unrelated to this conversation, I just heard a story from a realtor of an ice cube left on a laminate kitchen floor overnight that caused swelling and minor de-lamination.  

Here are a few recommendations for you:Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsIf you wish to tag someone in the conversation on the forum, type @ followed by their name and then select that person below.

Experience and fruitful conversations like this one with people who've been at this a lot longer will solve all of that in time.Each house I get under contract gets inspected and if the scope of work from the inspection comes back with a price point that's just too high to be profitable for my end-buyer, I move on. 

Since we work with mostly investors I get to hear all the good and bad vendors when it comes to things like hardmoney lenders, contractors, etc. if you are interested in attending or having a conversation shoot me an email or give me a call.

If you haven't yet- be sure to setup some "Keyword Alerts" to get into conversation in your target area.Seeya around!

She just want 10K and she'll disappear, But she will sign a power of attorney.