All Forum Posts by: John A Murray

I would do the roof, paint exterior walls and trim, and replace the ADU bedroom carpet; if the tile looks decent leave it alone. Got to eliminate the pests for sure, and everybody likes a good neighbor fence. Not sure that the garage "wall" would increase the rent but based on your description it would be a nice addition.

Keep in mind that these will be rental units, and they're not in Palm Beach. Spend wisely.

Are you interested in charging more after you "add" a bedroom? Are more people living in your ADU acceptable to you? If both answers are yes then go for it. Perfect for a single parent with one child, don't know about 2 adult non-related co-workers on a corporate rental. 4 feet is not very high; see for yourself with a tape measure.

People posting here have converted existing garages for as little as $37k up to $200k plus, depending on how fancy they got. 

There is a ton of information online and you need to thoroughly read all that's there. There's also a handful of books on this topic that are worth reading. There were 4 CA state laws that just went into effect that drastically changed the rules regarding ADU's/JADU's. Learn all you can.

You need to get with a contractor and tell him what you want to do so you can get a ballpark figure. You can go to Home Depot etc to price items you will need ie appliances, materials etc. All that will help you come up with a budget. 

You can save money by doing the contracting yourself, and more if you can do some of the work yourself.

Invite them all to a free meal, just like many hucksters do. Throw them some kind of bone.

Couldn't hurt.

I believe that the major benefit from ADU/JADU is in the cash flow. I would not convert/build an accessory unit counting on it to increase the properties value right away.

In cities where ADU's have a history there has been no over-saturation of them, which is why there was no heartburn by legislators to amend the bill with a sunset provision to the issue.

Thirty years ago in my city developers were allowed to knock down a SFR and replace it with a three-story 8 unit behemoth with vastly insufficient parking. Whole neighborhoods were ruined, with little to no concern shown by the developers. I don't blame any city for preferring the owner-occupancy requirement. Makes perfect sense given our history.

So are my neighbors in Southern California who rent one or more rooms in their SFR only- no ADU not a JADU-breaking the law?

If not then what’s the point of converting a room(s) into a JADU, other than legitimizing a rental unit?