Also you may want to reopen new cases as different reps lead to different results a lot of the time in my experience. 

As an update on what we have been doing, we have finally completed on the house in Peniche! 

We did not do this and still encounter less than ideal setup the result of our initial setup many years ago.  

Hiring a lawyer sounds expensive, but it is way cheaper than hiring a amateur (in this case yourself) who costs you money and provides no results (and then you need to hire a professional anyway).My personal philosophy is to "do it right, or do it twice" and its way cheaper to do it right once. 

@Kenneth Jenkins you forgot to mention owners that expect a PMC to use contractors off Craigslist that are unlicensed, NOT insured and rarely have acceptable experience/skill - but, they quote the "best" price.These same owners will sue a PMC if using these types of contractors results in a tenant lawsuit.

I love to think about my vision in the ABZ format:A = Where am I right nowB = What is my most important next stepZ = What's my final destinationI try to avoid thinking or worrying about cdefg, which is almost exactly what you are doing! 

I finally got ahold of the city today and they said the permitting timeline can be as fast as 3 weeks to 3 months, and is up to the owner's application and readiness. 

Don't over think this, pull the trigger actions create results. 

I've been trying to look on biggerpckets but can't seem to get results on it.

Adding the current mortgage and utilities would be roughly $1,350 resulting in a profit of $650/mo.