A VERY unpopular opinion I enjoyed is this: Much of Portland should be down-zoned.

There are 2 good things in that its in a pretty good neighborhood and its zoned commercial.  

I closed on a $50k house here in VT and pulled up my HUD, and here's what I have:- credit reporting fee $15- flood zone determination fee: $25- Documentation fee: $350- Attorney fee (incl title search): $1,000- recording fee: $150- wire transfer fee: $40.This does not include insurance prepayments, utility deposits, or items like that. 

@Inderpal ChadhaI have been a Building and Zoning Official for the past 20 plus years. 

Hello all,I own a SFH that is zoned 2 family.

You can look up with the state Architecture Board that they have not had any lawsuits or fines against their firm.Verify experience in similar types of designAsk them easy questions that they should know like, "What are the setback" or "are neighbor letter required for zoning" and maybe a hard one such as, "does a detached garage count towards the allowable habitable are of the home?"

I have heard of some companies calling themselves turnkey but actually contract out the PM, and then charge the client some sort of management fee on top of what the PM charges....that's a HUGE red flag.

Beyond that, if you are coastal, check on FEMA maps and/or consult an insurance agent to see if you are in the flood zone to see if you will be required to carry flood insurance and factor that into the costs.

Naturally the property would need to be zoned multi-family in some capacity.  

I'm doing a two car garage conversion into an apartment, all of the zoning is there, I'm wondering if I have to hire a contractor or an engineer/architect to do all of the drawings i.e.