They offered up all the local (I am out of state) legal, accounting and insurance contacts.What questions should I be asking?

You can find out permit information to get an idea if larger scale work has been done and permits pulled for those.

I have had the house inspected, and estimates done on all the work that needs to be completed, but there are some legal things to consider before I put any money into work being done on a house that I do not own.

I have a legal question. 

She's worried that the permitting process will be too challenging and so she's trying to evaluate should she: A.

I would speak to an architect and private engineer to see if they have experience in this part of town since ultimately you will need to pull permits to convert a garage into a living space.

@Tom Gimer This was a tax forfeiture so my understanding is that the state of MN took title via the unpaid taxes and this sale makes @John Woodrich the legal owner of the property. 

im curious... i have a detached 2 car garage with its own meter sitting right next to my house. the space is 550sqft with a walk up attic, i was thinking of adding another 500sqft in front of my garage and extending the attic to the new space to be built i have enough space.. hows the legal part of this work?

It is probably not a "legal" unit, I don't think.  

One of the factors that I looked at was the building permits issued in 2017 for each MSA.