All Forum Posts by: Laura C.

Have recently resumed my research on building an ADU and am a bit horrified at how much prices have gone up. Someone I know had built one (prefab) in the Bay Area about 2-3 years back in the ballpark of $250/SF. I had hoped to use the same firm - I know the prices have been creeping up, but now that same firm is charging an average of $350/SF. That's a 40% increase in a 2-3 year span, holy smokes. I'm going to start looking into things like studio sheds and see how that goes.

@William Yeh I should have been more clear - was curious if sheds/tiny homes were OK to be rented out from a legal standpoint. Don't seen any concern regarding market acceptance. Would love to look into sheds if there won't be any issues with the city in terms of permits and being allowed to rent it out. I don't know if they classify it differently. I had assumed things like tough sheds are in a different category vs something like a prefab ADU like the ones VHD builds.

@William Yeh I'm curious to know about rental ability for sheds/tiny homes, especially in California where rules may be more strict.  Like Daisy, I'm also looking to build in Fremont.  

@Chen Zhou $250/sf wouldn't be bad.  Yes, feel free to PM me your contacts.  However, I didn't realize fees would be in the 40Kish range.  Yikes.  

@Chen Zhou That's a really good timeline. My sister built in Oakland and I think her project took at least a year and a half. Do you mind if I ask what were the costs of your permits & also the build? I'm looking at a detached instead and I might be looking in the ballpark of $300/sf with one of the firms I've talked to. This is also a prefab ADU, not stick built. SJ seems more lax - I would be building in Fremont, so unfortunately may have a longer timeline.

@Zab Khan Can you PM me any info you have on your firm?  

@Dennis Vo  Tell your partner to stay away from investing in Fremont if they don't want to have a nervous breakdown ;)

@Dennis Vo Yup, I think it's $26.11/SF to be exact - insane. It was $8/sf about 2 or 3 years ago and for some reason, they just decided to triple it. A small group of people have been trying to protest it during school district meetings, but it hasn't been successful. It's funny as the politician who has been trying to lax ADU rules/restrictions for California is from Fremont. The caveat is any builds under 500 sf won't have to pay this ridiculous fee, which puts me in a bind. I rather go bigger, but I feel it's unjust for the city to get away with charging this excessive amount.

Your builds in Socal are very cheap.  I guess everything in the Bay Area is more expensive - I wouldn't be surprised if the prices of ADUs continue to climb with the demand.  Things are bad out here....

@Zab Khan Most ADU quotes I've seen are fairly high. Recently saw a unit at less than 400 sq cost about $250K, but I've also seen 800 sq units cost for about that price. There's a wide range on pricing and it also depends if it's stick built, prefab, etc. This is not necessarily for Newark/Bay area, but Bay Area in general.

@Gary F.  I've been looking at Valley Home Development based in Fairfield.  They specialize in prefabs.  I think their prices are creeping up with the demand though...

@Gary F.  Hey Gary, not yet.  Been preoccupied with some things, but trying to do research here and there when I can.  Trying to research companies and also determining what size would comfortably fit into our yard.