Investor · Vallejo, CA · Member since 2016 · 72 posts · 25 votes
Does anyone have any experience with ADU's in the Bay Area? Specially with cost, planning, timing, contractors etc. I'm looking to build in Vallejo, Ca.
I recently got permit approval in SJ (Willow Glen) for a 630 sqft attached ADU + 170 sqft addition to the existing unit. I'm happy to share my experience working with architect, the city, and contractors here. It took me about 4 months to get my permit and now I'm 3 months away from completion of the construction. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
I do want to point out that starting from July 2018, owners now can rent out both units without living in the property. With more relaxed rules from July 2018, it makes a lot more economic sense to invest into building an ADU: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/78534
Does anyone have any experience with ADU's in the Bay Area? Specially with cost, planning, timing, contractors etc. I'm looking to build in Vallejo, Ca.
The skilled labor will be your biggest issue. All the general contractors are already busy rebuilding Santa Rosa, Paradise, etc, so you'd have to offer enough to lure/poach them from that. And we had a severe GC shortage in the Bay Area before those things, to boot.
Might be more cost effective to look into something prefab.
I recently got permit approval in SJ (Willow Glen) for a 630 sqft attached ADU + 170 sqft addition to the existing unit. I'm happy to share my experience working with architect, the city, and contractors here. It took me about 4 months to get my permit and now I'm 3 months away from completion of the construction. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
I do want to point out that starting from July 2018, owners now can rent out both units without living in the property. With more relaxed rules from July 2018, it makes a lot more economic sense to invest into building an ADU: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/78534
I tried to have a detached ADU built last year but had to give up because the cost was too high. Looking back on my un-built project I should have gotten a builder involved early in the design process.
It's frustrating because I couldn't get any builder to look at my property until I had plans submitted for permitting. Then when I finally got plans submitted and people were wiliing to come look at my project I found out it would cost $60k-80k to run utilities and sewer from the primary house to the secondary dwelling which accounted for 25% of the cost. There were a few luxury features that we cut out to try to get costs down but ultimately the high cost of upgrading & connecting utilities pushed the project out of reach.
Note: I used New Avenue Homes platform to find an architect and was thoroughly satisfied with using it to communicate and send money to contractors. It's pretty handy system since I never had to write a check and it kept track of my design costs (it tracks build costs too if we got that far).
San Jose, CA · Member since 2017 · 25 posts · 5 votes
7y
@Jeff Lee That’s some high utility costs. How much were you looking at for the entire project? I’m hesitant to build one now due to increasing costs - one builder I was hoping to use jacked up their prices by about 40% within a few years.
I'm getting the final inspection by my city (Santa Rosa) tomorrow after building an ADU on my property. It took about four months to get the permit. A while to find a contractor, and now it's finally done!
If you have specific questions please let me know.
@Chen Zhou, Thank you for the cost breakdown of your project.
Your architect + Structural engineer costs are very reasonable. I had quotes for well over $11,000 for the plans. I finally got a drafter to start the architectural plan for a low cost of $1,650 for my 500 sqft ADU in San Leandro, CA. Unfortunately, he didn't take me through the finish line and getting the architectural plan to the city. With that, I spent a long long time to get the plan submitted and approved. After getting the architectural plan approved, I asked another firm to take over for the structural plan and everything else for a building permit. Again, that didn't work out well either. The firm only did the structural plan for me for $2,600 and asked me for another $7,000 for doing the MEP and a title 24 report. I think that was outrageous. So I am know getting advice and assistance from BuildZoom to get me a design and construction company who can help me to finish the plan, get a building permit, and do the construction for my ADU.
I was told last year building an ADU would cost $280-$300/sqft but for this year it runs around $350/sqft. So your construction cost of $170,000 for a total of 800/sqft is very reasonable. That's like $250/sqft. Is my calculation correct? I would love to get some referrals from you if possible.
Rental Property Investor · Santa Clara, CA · Member since 2019 · 160 posts · 156 votes
7y
@Stephanie Lew, I'm sorry to hear about your experience!! Yes, you can definitely do this with similar budget as mine this year. My $7000 included everything all the way through getting the permit approved by the city. I didn't pay the architect the last installment (3 installments in total) until I got the approval from the city. Anyway, good luck from this point on!!
We design ADUs in the sf bay area. Most of the cost and timelines (~4 month end to end to get permits) shared are reasonable. However, $7K for MEP and title 24 is excessive.
To reduce the cost of construction significantly and speed up the process, we also use pre-manufactured units and work with those companies (for getting them to code) and the city to get the permits for the same. It's something that you can suggest your architect too.
Do your cost benefit analysis. The quality of pre-manufactured ADU is not the same. However, it's at a fraction of the regular construction cost.
Rental Property Investor · Santa Clara, CA · Member since 2019 · 160 posts · 156 votes
6y
@Brian Larson I was under budget...so pretty happy with the results. I didn't add all the bells and whistles (since I'm building it as a rental) and did much of the landscaping myself....
New to Real Estate · San Jose · Member since 2019 · 1 post · 0 votes
6y
@Chen Zhou, I just started exploring adding an ADU to my primary residence, do you recommend the architect you have used?, if so can you share their contact.
@Chen Zhou, I am impressed with your ADU and how you got the right team for the work and kept it under budget. I am also exploring adding detached ADU to my primary residence. Can you share your architect/structural engineer contact with me?
Investor · Redwood City · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 27 votes
6y
@Chen Zhou Thanks for sharing your experience. I am also interested in the ADU details as I live in Redwood City and looking to add one to my primary residence.
I know it's been a year since you posted, but a lot has changed! The new bills that Gov. Newsom passed on January 1, 2020 definitely made building ADUs a lot easier and more affordable than ever before.
There are a few things to consider when starting and that is to decide on which method of building makes sense. If you are looking for a cost effective and quick turn around, I would recommend a prefab solution. This would allow to control a lot of the cost because the unit is being built off site in a factory rather than having a 12 month construction. This would help eliminate unnecessary labor cost and avoid a lot of weather delays that can prolong an ADU project.