MLS inventory is at record lows, and first-time home buyers like myself don't really stand a snowball's chance in hell here.

@Mike Brown - Tenant improvements are negotiable and that is ironed out during lease negotiations.

Also, keep in mind our unprecedented LOW INVENTORY. 

The city will always tell you what you can't do unofficially, it's when you get the attorneys involved they will tell you that yes you are grandfathered and you can make improvements within the original zoning. 

Hopefully Chattanooga has a tad more inventory than up East..Thanks for you insight!

Also, do all the minor repairs with the major improvements to ensure all the expenses can be capitalized as repairs are not capitalizable if you do incur the repair expenses separately.

Purchase price: $1,300,000 Cash invested: $130K down + $140K in improvements Sale price: $2,000,000Here's a quick video overview of the experience we gained owning this building: What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

If you buy a rental for 100K, and do 25K in improvements your basis when you sell is roughly $125K. 

pid=1782Houston Real Estate Highlights in May:-Single-family home sales increased for the twelfth consecutive month, up a dramatic 48.2 percent year-over-year with 9,702 units sold;-The Days on Market (DOM) figure for single-family homes dropped from 58 to 34;-Total property sales rose 55.5 percent with 12,100 units sold – the second highest volume in history;-Total dollar volume increased 100.5 percent to $4.4 billion;-The single-family average price reached a new record high, rising 29.7 percent to $387,105; -The single-family median price rose 21.7 percent to $304,000 – also a record high; -Single-family homes months of inventory registered an historic low 1.4-months supply, down from 3.3 months year-over-year and below the national inventory of 2.4 months;-On a year-to-date basis, single-family homes sales are running 29.5 percent ahead of 2020’s record pace;-Townhome/condominium sales jumped 103.4 percent with the average price up 15.7 percent to $238,839 and the median price up 21.7 percent to a record high of $213,000;-Single-family home rentals fell 26.8 percent with the average rent up 10.6 percent to a record high $2,025; -Townhome/condominium leases declined 3.5 percent with the average rent up 8.5 percent to $1,716.

@Andrew Casal you'd want to ask the building department of the city or town.They'll usually want you to be specific about what it is you're looking to do, rather than answering a general "what requires a permit" type question, but it sounds like you already have an idea of what your project will involve.I think you might be slightly better off describing it as a repair vs. an improvement or something new, if that's reasonable for what you're doing.