Real Estate Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 23 posts · 2 votes
Hey All-
I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on permitting an illegal ADU/MIL unit and its impact on the resale value of the home. Looking at a place that has a very nice ADU but needs some work in order to make it compliant (mainly a proper egress). I estimate between $6k to $10k in costs. So I am debating these options and its impact on re-selling the unit in the future:
Hey Rusty- Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and Mother-In-Law (MIL). In WA state the legal term is ADU. Basically my daylight basement has it's own entrance and kitchen; need to dig a deeper window well to meet current code for proper egress.
The current window is very tiny and we received an estimate of around $3k to update. With some other updates and permitting I estimate around $6k to get the unit fully legal.
We don't anticipate using it as a ADU but we are trying to figure out if we will at least get my $6k back when we sell.
I'm a big fan of un-permitted work. Because it means that when whoever thought it was a good idea to save a couple hundred bucks on permits tries to sell it won't go conventional. I have picked up two very affordable properties because of people doing that exact thing. My advice is to contact the local, pull the permits & get it legal. Be warned, they may make you expose wires and pipes to verify the work was done to code. As for proper egress, does it have a separate bedroom, or is it a studio? If its a studio then no worries on the window, the separate entrance meets egress if it opens on the outside.