All Forum Posts by: Laura C.

@Amit M. Haven't talked to realtors or checked out resale values of homes with ADUs. We plan to be here for the long haul and wanted an ADU for personal use, not thinking about selling the house and it's impact. However, you do bring up a good point that we should factor in. There has been a huge uptick in the build of ADUs, so the short term demand is there. I'm expecting with so many techies/millennials around, they will also need to put aging parents somewhere, especially in the next 10 to 20 years.

Yes, I agree with your sizing estimates.  @Seth Borman  Your in-house architect must be really creative and efficient with the layouts.  

@Wes Harding brings up some good points as well.  We're also torn on size vs. taking up land and aesthetics.  Need to make some decisions..

Hey Seth, 500 sf seems small for a 2/1 with kitchen and bath? Haven’t seen many floor plans with that configuration, but would love to. Someone I know just built a 2/1 at just under 800 sf and that layout seemed ok on size. Can imagine similar but at 500 sf.

OP, I'm pretty close to you in Fremont. We're also debating about adding an ADU. We're looking into prefab options due to the cost savings and that a lot of the work can be done offsite, so less impact/inconveniences in our backyard. Ideally a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, but we're still figuring out if our lot size would be OK for that. Realistically, a 1 bedroom would fit into the lot best. I'm not sure if you have this with Newark, but unfortunately, school impact fees for Fremont have skyrocketed (this applies to builds of 500 sf or more). Just a few years ago, it was less than $10/sf. Today, it's $26/sf which is insane compared to other cities in the Bay.

From an investment standpoint, it seems to make sense. However, I've also been thinking about putting the money elsewhere - for example, building an ADU in the Bay would be about half the cost of buying a "full" home in Sacramento. What's the better option? I don't know.

For resale purposes, I think it's a plus and a selling point.  People seem to care less about backyards and many of us have aging parents.  ADUs would be a great place for them to stay.  

Note that the construction costs have been going up as we speak, so building now seems to be better than later.  However, I'm hoping additional legislation will continue to lower the fees.  

Our intent for this ADU is a combination - for us (well, me) to live in, perhaps rental property as well, and in the future, home for aging parents.

Looks like some new legislation is in the works for California:

http://sd10.senate.ca.gov/news/2018-01-08-wieckowski-introduces-new-accessory-dwelling-unit-bill-allow-more-homeowners-add

Hi all, this is my first post on BP (I feel a bit awkward without a profile photo, but will fix that later). I've been thinking about building a detached ADU (likely prefab, since the costs tend to be cheaper). This is for Fremont, maybe a 2br, 1 bath, 700 to 900 SQFT. I'm interested by Kent's post about trucking in one from out of state, since the costs will be cheaper, but a bit concerned about the logistics around that. Does anyone have any recommendations on companies either in state or out of state? I'm looking at one firm based out of Fairfield. Someone I know is using them and it sounds like they can handle all the logistics vs. other firms may not.