House hacking in Bellevue, WA any concerns?

Question

I have been looking to house hack for a bit now and my strategy would be to buy a single family house and rent out all the rooms. Besides COVID right now, in general, are there things I should know about in Bellevue that might prevent me from doing this? Is there anything that the city is doing to prevent this type of housing from being done? I could see up to 8 people leaving in a large house, with 4 bathrooms, and 2 kitchens in some of these houses.

Michael Haas · Answer

@Sean Keating - yes, in Bellevue the maximum number of unrelated persons in a rental is 6 - not as bad as Seattle (8) but better than Everett at least (4). Bellevue also doesn't no allow ADU's rented seperately from the main home without the owner occupying one of the units, and in the last 2 years they have been cracking down on non-permitted units.

@Michael Stout how much are you spending legalizing your unit? In Seattle the requirements for a separate panel in each unit, usually separate electric meters, separate heat sources, separate hot water heaters and plumbing runs, etc make legalizing a non-conforming unit pretty expensive. I'm curious what your renovation numbers and experience look like if you're willing to share them!

Michael Stout · Answer

Well Sean, I based my strategy off of the recent changes in ADU regulations in Tacoma. Essentially I have found a SFH with a mother in law suite that I can completely separate from the main house. I am in the process of conforming it to the Attached ADU regulations. A home owner can rent the main house and ADU to different families without occupying the property. This makes a non traditional duplex in essence, a 3/1 main and 2/1 ADU. Duplexes in Tacoma are far more expensive than SFH so I reduced costs that way plus 90% of the MILS was completed anyway. I also purchased it using a VA loan with low rates, put about 3k of updates in, and started AirBnB/ short term renting it. Eventually I will move out and repeat this process.

I'm not sure what the ADU regulations are in Bellevue but I hope this helps.

Michael Stout · Answer

Hey Sean,

I was trying a similar experience house hacking in tacoma and come to find out that most applicable regulations are from the city and not the county/ state. If you search for Bellevue WA boarding house, you find the city regulations on boarding house as "Boarding houses and bed and breakfasts require a Home Occupation Permit, Part 20.30N LUC, approval. In addition, not more than two rooms may be rented to not more than two persons other than those occupying a single-family dwelling, provided there is compliance with health and building code requirements. The owner of the rooms to be rented shall provide off-street parking for such rooms at the rate of at least one parking stall for each room"

Found at https://bellevue.municipal.cod...

I also read about a restriction on zones for boarding homes. You can find the zone map here

https://cobgis.maps.arcgis.com...

There is a chance that you could do a non-occupied rooming house which matches closer to what you are looking to do. Here's some more info

https://bellevuewa.gov/city-go...

Good luck and let us know what happens!

Andy Whitcomb · Answer

I've been looking into this as well, but as Michael pointed out, Bellevue has some strict regulations regarding this. Better to find a house outside the city limits in Unincorporated King County, but even then there are restrictions.

In addition to that, you'll want to consider Fair Housing laws. You can't advertise a room as "great for a young professional" or "single male only".

Adrian Chu · Answer

Seattle openly allows 8 unrelated people in any dwelling unit. Bellevue has a whole bunch of rules.

https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/development/zoning-and-land-use/zoning-requirements/rentals

Sean Keating · Answer

Thanks Michael and Andy. I thought I heard something like that but I couldn't track down the details. Thanks for sharing the links and information you have learned. Obviously this changes things a bit, and makes the numbers different. Have either of you found an approach that is working for you or looks promising?

House hacking in Bellevue, WA any concerns?

House hacking in Bellevue, WA any concerns?

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