All Forum Posts by: Anthony To

For those interested, it looks like California had an ADU grant program that earmarked $100M towards soft costs for ADU development. But all the money has been fully reserved as of March 1, 2023! So looks like we just missed the boat. Bummer, as that would've been nice! More info: https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/adu/

 Hi @Wesley I. thanks for the input! I actually have not heard of the ADU grant but I'll be looking into it now. Would love to pick your brain as a draftsperson, will be dm'ing you!

Quote from @Keegan Wetzel:

Quote from @Anthony To:

I'm in San Diego and looking to convert a three car garage into two 1-1 units. The total square footage is roughly 700 sq ft. There is a 2-1 apt above the garages already. The property is in North Park.

I spoke to ADU Geeks, a San Diego-based firm that specializes in ADU development, and they quoted me ~$36k for all soft costs for both units. Soft costs includes design, permit fees, school fees, water/sewer and title 24. So basically from nothing to permits in hand and ready to build will be $36k.

Does that seem reasonable? Any way for me to get that done cheaper? 

Hi @Anthony To,

Those numbers look pretty solid for a bigger company.  The biggest shave I have seen on soft costs are using a 3rd-party permit runner to maybe save like $5k.  Permits and plans for 2-units probably range $8k-15k.  The City is going to be about $1800 in permit fees and then probably another $3500+ in sewer/water/school/DIF.

Here is a rough quote I received from a bigger company in San Diego to build 4 units where I have an existing 5-garage structure, and this would include partitioning off part of an existing 3 unit to make my 4th unit (so converting the 5 garages into 3 units)

 It feels like a pretty conservative approach....but, for what it's worth, here are the numbers we actually all care about!  And they are pretty tasty, which is why I love investing in this market and helping my clients do the same!

 Thanks for showing these numbers! Very helpful to see how mine compare. I’m going to get some other quotes and see how this all stacks up. Fortunately, the numbers work out for me at 35k soft costs so anything cheaper is just extra gravy 

 This idea crossed me mind! What are some of the biggest challenges if I decide to try and work with the city myself?

 Thanks for the response, yes I do have a contractor I work with and he said that the quote I got is expensive. He did recommend me a draftsperson that I’m going to reach out to. He thinks soft coats should be half of what I was quoted

I'm in San Diego and looking to convert a three car garage into two 1-1 units. The total square footage is roughly 700 sq ft. There is a 2-1 apt above the garages already. The property is in North Park.

I spoke to ADU Geeks, a San Diego-based firm that specializes in ADU development, and they quoted me ~$36k for all soft costs for both units. Soft costs includes design, permit fees, school fees, water/sewer and title 24. So basically from nothing to permits in hand and ready to build will be $36k.

Does that seem reasonable? Any way for me to get that done cheaper? 

Hey Sai,

I’m also a software engineer and I do the same in San Diego. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Anthony

Nice work. How are rents? How did you structure this deal with your partners?

Hi Thomas,

I’m also in the San Diego market, which neighborhoods are you looking in?

as far as getting cost estimates for rehab, I suggest finding a GC you like/trust and having them come with you in walkthroughs 

You already sold this? When did you acquire and what neighborhood? Can you share the specs of the property