The city is telling me they can't (won't) go after him unless he pulled a permit.

We can’t seem to find anybody who we are willing to pull the trigger on.

Does the permit pulled reflect the actual SOW?

I can pull the funds out of savings to use for closing costs and downpayment but I hate pulling the money out....

A little insight @Brandon Williams, Shorewest pulls data from the MLS's IDX feature, the most up to date data for non Realtors is Realtor.com.3&4 units tend to be in high demand for the casual investor, the debt level is not terrifying, and most owner own maybe 1 or 2 properties, as a diversification play in their retirement strategy, this makes them highly desirable, and pushes the price up.

This seems like an ideal opportunity to BRRR, I’m guessing if you bought for around 60k you should be able to pull out a good amount of cash on a refi and still have rents of $1200-$1400 for a solid cashflow property. 

I've not had any difficulty filling the 3/2, but feel a bit gun shy pulling the trigger on a single bath. 

Pull out your closing docs and find the settlement statement.

It’s a highly desired area so the market is naturally more expensive in this area. 

Long story short, I pulled all offers and walked away.