Backyard Cottages & ADUs

Hi parents - 

I am looking at possible ADU to my house in Albany. I wonder if anyone here is in Albany and has gone through the ADU process in the past five years, could share their insight or give recommendations? 

Specifically

1. Service provider recommendation
2. General cost advice
3. Project length advice - when will be the best time/month to start? 
4. Any other tips that you could share

Thank you for your helping! Much appreciated. 

We are in the midst of an ADU project and wanted to hear others' experience putting in a full kitchen (not an efficiency kitchen for JADU).  We are particularly interested in the oven requirement. If you installed a cooktop, did you also install a built-in oven or just a countertop oven? Due to space constraints, we are leaning towards the cooktop + countertop oven option.

A popular question in the archives but this is a dynamic topic with the state laws easing up all the time. I am wondering if anyone has current recommendations for an ADU company or recent cautionary tales. We are in El Cerrito, we know our site doesn't lend itself to a structure being craned in but we are otherwise interested in prefab as a faster construction option, we aren't even sure we want to go the full kitchen/bathroom route (for easiest permit streamlining) but may stay under the 120SF option for no permit (no bathroom). We also aren't even entirely sure what we would use it for, but with two teens and two parents constantly crashing into each other in a small house, feel like it would get used for something(?). Anyone else done some thinking on this? Finally anyone recently gone through the City of El Cerrito for a legal no-permit shed but gotten an electrical permit? Does the inspector really just look at the electrical work or do they start poking around everything? Thanks!

Hello,

We are looking to add space via an ADU. Anyone have recommendations on a successful addition. Specifically, we’ve been attracted to the idea of a prefab ADU but have heard the point of friction is the installer. 

Would appreciate hearing recommendations and thoughts on the process. 
Thank you!

Hi! We are in early stages of considering making our bottom floor into a permitted junior ADU (within the existing footprint of the home).

It's my understanding that creating an ADU will require a separate electrical panel.

Our current panel is 100 amps and goes underground to the distribution pole. It's my understanding that replacing/updating our own panel (to, say 200amp) would require digging/trenching/replacing the conduit... and it would be very expensive. (Something I'd like to avoid)

Does anyone know if the Jr. ADU electrical panel would require that underground trenching too? Or does PGE allow "overhead drops" when adding a panel to ADU?

Thank you!

Hello, ISO great architects and contractors for a house lift and ground floor ADU in South Berkeley. The house is split level so it's a complicated lift and I'd love to work with people who are seasoned in lifting. Folks willing to work with a cost-conscious homeowner appreciated.

Also, does anyone have a sense of how an ADU attached to an existing single family home will affect property taxes?

Thanks very much!

We are planning to build an ADU for my mother-in-law as she is looking to downsize. She is having a really hard time visualizing what a 800-1000 square foot space would be like to live in, and understanding design features that can be practical yet space-saving.
Would anyone who has an ADU in that size range be willing to do us a huge favor and allow us (me, my husband and my mother-in-law) to do a quick tour? She lives in Berkeley and we like in Oakland. We are planning the ADU for Berkeley 

I am wondering if anyone knows how to find a contractor who can advise on building a wheelchair-accessible ADU. My sister had a brain injury a few years ago and has been in a nursing facility ever since. There’s no emphasis on recovery there and its depressing as hell. We want to move her but her needs are pretty complicated. (Besides the wheelchair, she would need a care assistant with her the majority of the time plus lifts and other equipment). 

I want to find out if its feasible to build an ADU for her at my house in Richmond. Does anyone have a recommendation? Or an idea on how to find one?? 

We have a dilapidated “garage” which turns out it was never a garage but a carport that the previous owner put up a wall to enclose it. concrete slab is torn up and in a bad shape. Water seeps in from the uphill neighbor. It’s where things go in to become garbage. I am afraid to go in because of rat poop and dust. Dark, dingy, dusty and a real mental drag.  I dream of turning this into a bright and usable space. An enclosed and weather protected storage would be fine but it would be amazing to have a flexible space for working from home, guest bedroom or dare I dream, a family play space. As we are cramped in our small 2 bedroom house with no storage space and small backyard, I look at this wasted space and get frustrated that it isn’t more useful.

I have no idea where to start to make my dream a reality. I don’t want to start meeting with architects when I don’t even know how much I need to budget. I don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars just sitting in the bank, so I would like to have an idea of how much something like this costs so that I can start saving for it and figure out how to come up with the funds. Do people just borrow against their current equity?

Moving to a bigger place will be easier but I think that might be more expensive. We are in Oakland and I don’t think we want to move to Antioch/Clayton or beyond to get a house we want within our budget.  But I don’t know.

I think I need a designer / manager who will guide us through the entire process (land survey, permit, etc) But I don’t even know what I dream of is possible. 

Any tips on where to start would be very much appreciated. 

I'd love to hear experiences from people who have a relatively new-construction ADU (2018 or later, that is banned from 'short-term' rentals), as we are considering a detached (or attached) ADU on our large, primary residence. SFU lot (in addition to a small home addition). My understanding right now is that

- we would not need to register as landlords (2021 update)

- we would be exempt from rent control

- we would not be required to provide an additional parking space

My questions are

- Berkeley ADU law says can't be rented out short-term. OK. But ADU 2021 Guidance says not for less than 30 days ("ADUs and JADUs shall not be utilized as
commercial short-term rentals (i.e. rentals less than 30 consecutive days)", and short-term rental regulation talks about short-term rentals being less than 14 days ("If you rent your Dwelling Unit, authorized Accessory Dwelling Unit, or Accessory Building, for 13 days or less, you are considered a Short Term Rental and are required to register with the City based on Berkeley Municipal Code (BMC) Section 23C.22"). Which is currently being enforced? How are you implementing this? (We were told by an architect that we could, for example, rent through Airbnb as long as our rental was set to 14 days or more.)

- What are the pros / cons of renting (for either >14 OR >30 days) your ADU? What is it like to be a Berkeley landlord of new-er construction? Do you use Airbnb? Other more or less traditional ways of connecting with renters? I'm familiar with Airbnb as I'm helping host a property for my mother (not in Berkeley), and I like the idea of renting through them. But am open to all the options...

- We would likely need to use a HELOC to (help) fund the ADU construction. What are your experiences with ADU rentals and income covering costs. In other words, what are your net profits like? Ours would likely be a studio (or maybe one-bedroom) in South Berkeley. What should we expect or be wary of?

- What do you wish you knew before you decided to build a new ADU? Would you do it again? Why or why not? Other thoughts?

Thank you!

Hi all, Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a device that would allow us to share wifi with the cottage in our backyard. Seems like these extenders are designed for larger houses rather than separate structures but wondering if anyone has experience with it working in a backyard cottage. Lot is only about 4500 sq feet total, so the distance from house to cottage is pretty short. Thanks! 

Hi everyone, 

My mother is looking to build an ADU in her backyard in East Richmond Heights. Does anyone have experience with pre-fab ADU companies such as Habitat ADU? It seems attractive that they take care of everything but we do not know anyone in the East Bay who has utilized such a service. Any personal experiences or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I looked at the city website and found a prepared PDF file explaining REGULATIONS regarding the ADU.

1) I was wondering if I should get a permit with City of Berkeley, before I build/design the ADU

2) What is the contact information in the city of Berkeley who can guide/approve me through the process.

Thank you

Hi all, we are contemplating expanding our Berkeley hillside home to add ground-level bedroom, bathroom and (attached or detached) plus room. The things driving this are very time-sensitive and I’m wondering what I should know about the process before we launch it so as to make it as speedy and efficient (for Berkeley) as possible. What we have so far: a basic set of plans by an architect relative not licensed in Berkeley. Aside from speed, I’m also curious about any local quirks or pitfalls of this process worth knowing about, and how it may have been affected by Covid and the economy.

One further consideration: we have a difficult neighbor.

I would welcome your thoughts and experience, especially if recent.

Thanks!

Bursting At The Seams

I read in the Oakland zoning regulations that an ADU has to have a kitchen. Now, we want to build a detached little "cottage" in our backyard that only has a bedroom and a bathroom. It's just for when my mother or MIL visits for an extended time (new baby took over the guest room) and would not be rented out. Would that still be considered an ADU? Or does it have a different name? Does it have to be permitted as well? I mean, of course we could add a small kitchenette, but why invest in something that's not needed?

We've rented in Oakland for years and are now looking to buy a home here, with the plan that my parents would live with us in a second unit/ADU. True duplexes seem to be a little out of our price range, so we are looking at various types of set ups - houses with large flat lots but no second structure, houses with partial ADUs (garages converted to studios that could be expanded, etc), houses with large lower levels or extra rooms that could be walled off and a kitchen and bathroom added. We're having trouble figuring out what the true cost of an ADU will be and with such a fast-moving real estate market we can't really get actual estimates on a specific property or anything like that before buying. Whether or not we can afford any given home depends on how much adding the ADU would cost, so I would love to hear others experience on how much it cost for them to add one to their home. I'm particularly interested in garage conversions and also in pre-fab companies like Bay Modular which seems great on paper but wondering if costs can add up and how to avoid that. Contractor recommendations welcome but at this stage I'm really more looking for actual cost examples so I can get a sense. Thank you! 

Hi,

I am toying with the idea of building a small ADU in our back yard. I want to build a 1 bedroom ADU with a kitchen and 3/4 bath, and it has to be L shaped for our lot.  I also want a loft above the bathroom/closet area to be additional space for kids to sleep.  With all those desires, it's hard to find a prefab that would work - but does anyone know a prefab company that might be able to customize this? Or have a firm they recommend to design/build one? I'm looking for something on a moderate budget. I've seen some designers that build ADUs for an average of $385K that is out of my range...

We are considering "building" a pre-fab ADU in Berkeley and would love to hear from anyone who has done it. What are the pros (other than cheaper and speedier) and cons? Anyone have experience navigating the permitting process in Berkeley?

Thank you!

Dear community! I am about to embark on a basement ADU and attic development project that is going to be quite substantial in cost and complexities. Naturally, I would like to keep costs down. I am looking to learn from your experiences around sourcing and project management for this sort of undertakings.

For example:

• Searching and identifying (short listing) contractors -- Where did you search, and how did you go about evaluating qualifications to meet the needs of your project? Did you send out a questioner to contractors?

• Negotiations -- Requesting / receiving bids and cost negotiating – what was your process? How many proposals did you solicit? How did you compare and analyzed the bids? Did you negotiate the cost? Why or why not? What was your approach / strategy? What was the contractor/s reaction (willing or unwilling to negotiate)? What were the biggest challenges and what were the end results of the negotiations (lowered by x%)?

• Contracts and timelines – Did you negotiate the terms and timelines? Did you write a formal contract? Did you consult with a legal professional, used a template, or just worked with the documents provided by the contractor? In retrospect, do you feel a more binding/stronger contract could have spared you some headaches?

• If you chose not to negotiate (costs and/or terms), what drove that decision and what were your concerns (harm future relationships, uncomfortable negotiating, no time, stressful, lack of expertise, lack of resources and tools, other)?

• Project management – did you hire someone to manage the project? Did you do it yourself? What drove either decision? Are there any online tools you can recommend? What were your biggest lessons-learned?

• At the end, are you satisfied with your process and the results of your project management and negotiations approach? Did you enjoy it and would you do it again? Why or why not? Did you use any online tools that you can recommend? If you had to do it over again, what would you change?

• In general, where were your biggest challenges, and what would you do different next time? What tips and advice can you share.

Any and all advise, tips and insights you are willing to share are GREATLY Appreciated!

Thanks! Nervous First Timer

Does anyone know whether building an ADU in Berkeley triggers a re-appraisal of the home/consequent tax increase? To the best of my googling abilities it appears the answer is "no" and it seems like not many people would build one if it did, but I would love some corroborating information! Thanks!

We’d like to build an ADU in our yard in Berkeley as economical as possible. We spoke to an architect and by her rough estimate, we could no where near approach paying for it.  But I’ve read the archives and it sounds like a few people have opted to do a prefab with a contractors help as a more affordable option.  Has anyone had experience doing this and if so could you give me some details on which prefab you used, which contractor, the budget, and how you navigated the permitting process in Berkeley?  I understand they are making it easier but after speaking with the architect the process still sounded pretty involved and complicated.  

Does anyone have experience with installation of pre-fab units? We are interested in installing a unit in our yard with a studio and bathroom. Hoping someone has recommendations for a company or any other insight which would also be appreciated.

Hi, we're considering building a backyard cottage in Berkeley,  and are seeking information regarding if and how rent control might impact this decision. Does anyone know for sure?  We've heard all types of conflicting information, and can't get a response from the rent control board. Can anyone help?  Have you recently built and rented an ADU, and did anyone set limits on the rent you could charge?  Any recommendations for groups or organizations that can help new landlords?  Appreciate your thoughts, recommendations, and information.