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Accessory dwelling unit ADU
Has anybody have any experience with building their own ADU unit? Besides getting all the utilities set up and in place I feel like a majority of the finishing I can handle myself with the help of friends/family. Just wondering if anyone had taken on the project and how much money was saved. Quotes have been anywhere from $60K all the way to $150K.
Side note, there is an ADU expo held by a company called Maxable on February 29th 2020 in LA. I was thinking about attending to get more information and meet industry leaders.
How's the ADU doing these days?
Originally posted by @German E.:Hi, I have just finished building an ADU in Corona CA, and can tell you my experience was quite a bit more work than I expected. I hired a planner who made apparently some rough architectural plans, but the city had very high expectations at every step, basically as if I was building a fully independent house. Inspectors were at times unsure just what rules to apply to this home, and they just went for the more stringent ones every time. The cost was about $150/sf for 750sf 2B1B, but I was my own GC and spent a LOT of time working on this which took the better part of a year.
I have just had the property appraised and was disappointed to see that appraisers don't put a lot of value on ADUs as compared to multi-family zoned properties. You should do your due diligence to find out what the expected final value will be, and how much time and money it will likely cost you.
The property does cash flow quite nicely now. Since ADUs are underpriced in the market, the better strategy if you're starting from scratch is to buy a home with an existing ADU and skip all the work building it. If you do decide to build, I suggest to stick to a basic setup that uses existing sf such as a converted garage. Good luck!
Might be the hardest thing you've ever done.Construction project have many moving parts. Would be good to have a trusted GC you can lien on. Have you begun the build out yet?
Originally posted by @Joel Becerra:Originally posted by @German E.:Hi, I have just finished building an ADU in Corona CA, and can tell you my experience was quite a bit more work than I expected. I hired a planner who made apparently some rough architectural plans, but the city had very high expectations at every step, basically as if I was building a fully independent house. Inspectors were at times unsure just what rules to apply to this home, and they just went for the more stringent ones every time. The cost was about $150/sf for 750sf 2B1B, but I was my own GC and spent a LOT of time working on this which took the better part of a year.
I have just had the property appraised and was disappointed to see that appraisers don't put a lot of value on ADUs as compared to multi-family zoned properties. You should do your due diligence to find out what the expected final value will be, and how much time and money it will likely cost you.
The property does cash flow quite nicely now. Since ADUs are underpriced in the market, the better strategy if you're starting from scratch is to buy a home with an existing ADU and skip all the work building it. If you do decide to build, I suggest to stick to a basic setup that uses existing sf such as a converted garage. Good luck!
Well, I,m glad you made it through it all! For me I am stepping two feet in. Ideally I would have loved to convert a garage and be done with it, but the way all the structured sit on the property, it just wasn't feasible. I figure that my rent price on the new unit will be higher if the units are detached and more space/privacy is there. I have funding secured and plans are in the approval process with the city. How did you manage being your own GC? Are you in that line of work, or do you work full time somewhere elsewhere? I am planning on handling myself as well. How was you luck with the subs? Any to recommend? It will come greatly appreciated.
Yes, even though I know it wont be the easiest thing I've ever done I wanted a challenge and it will cashflow nicely as well :)
This calc might help, also does a basic rental income calc. Attached, conversion, detached numbers. Modular or stick. Not real estimating or underwriting but a start, the numbers smell like a decent range https://www.dwellito.com/adu-cost-calculator I am not affiliated