To answer some of your other questions in general about Huntsville, there are almost no basements here, and you never want a pool for a rental unless its an STR, which are now forbidden here without proper zoning and permitting.  

Grading/ sewer/ septic/ permitting /any subwalls ..  

@Caleb Christopher I heard that KCMO requires a rental permit... would you know if that true ?

Political threads are not permitted on BiggerPockets.

Could this be a DIY kind of thing, If so is there any permits or code violations i should be aware of?

I know from experience it will go nowhere because it's not illegal.If you were charged fees without your permission, or not permitted to be charged in your contract...then that would be illegal.

Next time on a MAJOR renovation project, I'd have the City of Johnson City Building Inspector join me for a pre-purchase tour to tell me what permits and what jobs they'll require of me.

Please note, units have to be registered (then renewal annually) with the Department of Planning and Permitting in order to be operated as legal vacation rentals.  

Cities can require that the primary unit be owner-occupied at the time of permit application. 

Visit your court house, city hall, etc and see what you can find out about permitting and go from there.