The turf ends up smelling like a permanent dog toilet. 

AbsolutelyCould I replace the leaking roof, remove the creepy trees, get rid of the mold and the smell?    

Contractors can smell a fish immediately, and I know this is going to piss people off on these forums, but the reality is, the world is chuck full of ones who will take you to the cleaners and back again, and think nothing of it when they sit in the front row at church on Sunday. 

@Matt Sieber  We are just south of Battle Creek.  

I felt the same way about their conflicting restrictions but ultimately, decided it was better for me to just push forward with 800 sq ft then try fight an uphill battle.

Over the years the kitchen was moved to the back of the house with no air flow so you could smell the grease from the moment you walked in the door.

The city would also prefer to get it done without a legal battle, so as long as you are reasonable, they should be accomodating.I don't like to get into a fight just becasue I can.

Now upon actually visiting the property (flew to BHM) and getting an inspection, there were quite a few issues:1) strong mildew smell.

The garage has junk in it and smells of urine.

We've visited a number of what we've kindly called failed flips, where it was obvious the investor spent to much on the house, couldn't afford to fix up the house to look good (didn't get rid of the cat pee smell, no pads under carpets, etc) and are now asking for $20K over market value.