Not sure if I made my question clear but if I have a current site and then buy a domain name from godaddy can there be seo? I think an IP needs to be available for the new domain name for seo to take place? Is this correct or does godaddy offer URL forwarding without an IP address allocated? Another question, if a web host registers a domain on your behalf - who owns the domain you are them?
If you register a new fresh domain name it has zero in SEO. And you can use the forwarding function to redirect it to your another website. If you buy hosting at the hosting providers and get a free domain, then you're the owner of that domain.
If you buy a domain, you are the one and only owner of it. Be careful purchasing domains from auctions like Godaddy, you have to carefully examine its history in order to avoid domains that were penalized or hacked.