All Forum Posts by: David Maldonado
David Maldonado has started 50 posts and replied 152 times.
Post: House Hacking and ADU Build

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Investment Info:
Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Santa Maria.
Purchase price: $366,000
Cash invested: $87,000
House Hacking / Live in Flip / New Construction
Asking Price: $370,000
Main House Rehab: $12,000
VA Loan 0% down
PITI: $2080
Main House Rent: $4000
* ATTACHED 615 SQFT ADU BUILD (OWNER BUILDER) *
2 Bed 1 Bath, Washer & Dryer, LARGE Private yard and Entry.
Grand Total Cost to Build: $50,000 (Plans, Permits, Construction, Fees, Etc.)
ADU Rent: $ 2100
* 488 SQFT JADU (GARAGE CONVERSION) (OWNER BUILDER) *
1 Bed 1 Bath,
Grand Total Cost to Build: $25,000
JADU Rent: $1500
What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?
The lot size for for an ADU build.
How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?
Zillow
How did you finance this deal?
VA Loan
How did you add value to the deal?
Built an ADU and a JADU, and a full renovation of the main house.
What was the outcome?
Massive cash flow from 1 property and both my ADU builds broke even at 15 months.
Lessons learned? Challenges?
Learning the city codes and taking on my projects as an owner builder.

Post: House Hacking and ADU Build

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Investment Info:
Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Santa Maria.
Purchase price: $366,000
Cash invested: $87,000
House Hacking / Live in Flip / New Construction
Asking Price: $370,000
Main House Rehab: $12,000
VA Loan 0% down
PITI: $2080
Main House Rent: $4000
* ATTACHED 615 SQFT ADU BUILD (OWNER BUILDER) *
2 Bed 1 Bath, Washer & Dryer, LARGE Private yard and Entry.
Grand Total Cost to Build: $50,000 (Plans, Permits, Construction, Fees, Etc.)
ADU Rent: $ 2100
* 488 SQFT JADU (GARAGE CONVERSION) (OWNER BUILDER) *
1 Bed 1 Bath, Washer & Dryer, Private yard, parking and Entry.
Grand Total Cost to Build: $25,000 (Plans, Permits, Construction, Fees, Etc.)
JADU Rent: $1500
What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?
The lot size for for an ADU build.
How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?
Zillow
How did you finance this deal?
VA Loan
How did you add value to the deal?
Built an ADU and a JADU, and a full renovation of the main house.
What was the outcome?
Massive cash flow from 1 property and both my ADU builds broke even at 15 months.
Lessons learned? Challenges?
Learning the city codes and taking on my projects as an owner builder.

Post: House Hacking and ADU Build

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Quote from @David Maldonado:
Investment Info:
Single-family residence buy & hold investment.
Purchase price: $306,500
Cash invested: $78,000
House Hacking / Live in Flip
Asking Price: 319,999
Main House Rehab: $8000
Conventional 5% down
PITI: $1680
Main House Rent: $2050
*DETACHED 725 SQFT ADU BUILD* (OWNER BUILDER)
2 Bed 1 Bath, Washer & Dryer, Private yard and Entry
Grand Total Cost to Build: $70,000 (Plans, Permits, Construction, Fees, Etc.)
ADU Rent: $ 2100
What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?
Cheap price, sweat equity, large lot for detached ADU build, first full rehab project.
How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?
Found it on Realtor.com searching for properties that have been sitting on the market the longest when rates were at an all-time low.
How did you finance this deal?
Conventional Loan
How did you add value to the deal?
Full rehab down to the studs.
Built an Income generating ADU in the backyard.
1930's house looking like a 2020 house.
200 amp panel upgrade
What was the outcome?
long-term cash flow and another step closer to financial freedom
Lessons learned? Challenges?
Lack of comps for properties with ADUs
Had to leave money used to build the ADU in the deal (for now)
Flipping the home made me realize how much I enjoy working on houses and how rewarding it feels to look at my creation.
It was tough to find a house where I didn't have to pay over asking when rates were at 2.75%, so I learned to look at homes that have been sitting on the market the longest is beneficial, especially in a hot market where homes usually sell within days.

This was from 2021, just figured I post it now since I'm in the process of updating my BP profile!
Post: House Hacking and ADU Build

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Investment Info:
Single-family residence buy & hold investment.
Purchase price: $306,500
Cash invested: $78,000
House Hacking / Live in Flip
Asking Price: 319,999
Main House Rehab: $8000
Conventional 5% down
PITI: $1680
Main House Rent: $2050
*DETACHED 725 SQFT ADU BUILD* (OWNER BUILDER)
2 Bed 1 Bath, Washer & Dryer, Private yard and Entry
Grand Total Cost to Build: $70,000 (Plans, Permits, Construction, Fees, Etc.)
ADU Rent: $ 2100
What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?
Cheap price, sweat equity, large lot for detached ADU build, first full rehab project.
How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?
Found it on Realtor.com searching for properties that have been sitting on the market the longest when rates were at an all-time low.
How did you finance this deal?
Conventional Loan
How did you add value to the deal?
Full rehab down to the studs.
Built an Income generating ADU in the backyard.
1930's house looking like a 2020 house.
200 amp panel upgrade
What was the outcome?
long-term cash flow and another step closer to financial freedom
Lessons learned? Challenges?
Lack of comps for properties with ADUs
Had to leave money used to build the ADU in the deal (for now)
Flipping the home made me realize how much I enjoy working on houses and how rewarding it feels to look at my creation.
It was tough to find a house where I didn't have to pay over asking when rates were at 2.75%, so I learned to look at homes that have been sitting on the market the longest is beneficial, especially in a hot market where homes usually sell within days.


Post: Anyone building ADUs/JADUs in the Fresno/ Clovis area?

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Quote from @Dan H.:
it seems like you may be unaware that a JADU requires owner occupied. The is no JADU without OO.
In most CA markets the added ADU adds less value than the cost to add a hands off ADU addition. Seeing you are owner/builder, you may not have the negative equity that most people adding an ADU will have, especially if you can really build a stand alone ADU all in at $90/ft (I am a bit skeptical).
ADU additions have other issues (other than the initial negative position) such as 1) no income until complete which can easily take a year 2) limited finance options 3) detracts from existing unit (yard, privacy, garage, etc) 4) less potential purchasers at exit as their are many more people looking to purchase personal home than RE investors 5) lots of work. Likely as much or more work than a BRRRR, but at much lower return 6) cheaper and less work to buy property with an existing ADU. let some other chump pay more for adding the ADU than the value added by the ADU.
Good luck
I get that all the time about the cost per square ft. The cheapest build I've done was for a 488 sq ft jadu conversion at about $62 per sq ft (before sb13 lowered the cost of permits) in 3 months. It rents for $1500. But this is in a higher cost of living area.
i personally find new construction much easier than fix and flips, at least for long term rentals. Least likely to have maintenance issues since its a new build. Just sucks that it can take a while for single family new construction.
Post: Anyone building ADUs/JADUs in the Fresno/ Clovis area?

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Hey everyone,
I am looking into investing in long-term rentals in Fresno sometime toward, specifically single family homes with the intention to build both an ADU and JADU on every property. The plan is to BRRRR fixers with hard money or funding partners, and then build the ADUs (home equity loan maybe?). I'm in it for the cash flow (although I wouldn't complain if the ADUs added a decent amount of equity). Has anyone built an ADU/JADU in the Fresno area? Did you get an appraisal after the build? If so, how much equity did the ADU add to the property?
I would like to know if ADUS add or decrease property value in Fresno and if the rents are worth building the ADU as an owner builder (I have built 1 JADU and 3 ADUS as an owner builder at about $90 per square foot).
ADUs in my hometown, where I invest in, add a significant amount of value to a property, only problem is that my market still has buyers paying over asking (not nearly as much as when rates were low though, $10k-$15k is common) for a move in ready house). Just not enough supply and buyers are going in with two families on a single family house.
Post: Owner builder loans for SFH and ADUs

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Hey everyone,
I have owner builder experience building ADUs to my properties. I was able to build at $85 per square ft by doing most of the work myself and subbing out what I couldn't.
I want to take on my next deal as an owner builder and build a single family home with both an ADU and JADU. There is land for sale in my area for $297k with all utilities on site (used to have a small house that was demoed a while back). I can build at about $100-$150 per square ft (depending on soft costs for the single family home build). There is only 1 comp in my area that has both an ADU and an JADU that sold for $1.5 Million, where the average sale price for that neighborhood is in the high $500ks.
Are there any lenders that do owner builder loans in California?
I also plan on testing for my GC license early next year, hopefully that can better my chances on being approved for an owner builder loan (if they still exist in California)
Post: California ADU business

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
ADU Appraisal:
Hey everyone it has been a while. I'm currently getting ready for my 5th ADU build and I want to share some news:
A similar house in my neighborhood with both an ADU and a JADU sold for $1.15 million, after only being listed for a few days. Properties around my neighborhood are worth around $550,000. I was able to get a copy of the appraisal report and the comps that were used were mulit-familys (tri-plex). As of today, that house was the first and remains the only property with both an ADU and a JADU in my area.
Question:
If I were to apply for a HELOC, would that $1.15 million dollar property be the only objective comp that can be used to determine my property's value? I'd be able to quit my job and do this full-time if this can work!
Post: ADU Appraisal California

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
ADU Appraisal update:
I have mentioned a similar house in my neighborhood with both an ADU and a JADU that sold for $1.15 million, after only being listed for a few days. Properties around my neighborhood are worth around $550,000. I was able to get a copy of the appraisal report and the comps that were used were mulit-familys (tri-plex). As of today, that house was the first and remains the only property with both an ADU and a JADU in my area, that has sold.
If I were to apply for a HELOC, would that $1.15 million dollar property be the only objective comp that can be used to determine my property's value? Feel free to chime in appraisers!
Post: California ADU appraisals

- Rental Property Investor
- Santa Maria, CA
- Posts 158
- Votes 81
Update on Appraisals for ADUs:
So I have built both an ADU and a JADU on one of my single family homes. A similar house in my neighborhood with both an ADU and a JADU sold for $1.15 million, after only being listed for a few days. Properties around my neighborhood are worth around $550,000. I was able to get a copy of the appraisal report and the comps that were used were mulit-familys (tri-plex). As of today, that house was the first and remains the only property with both an ADU and a JADU in my area.
If I were to apply for a HELOC, would that $1.15 million dollar property be the only objective comp that can be used to determine my property's value?