Legislators in California have added a new wrinkle to the growing trend of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). In an effort to rein in the ongoing housing crisis, the newly passed California Assembly Bill 1033 will open the door for homeowners with a qualifying ADU on their property to sell the unit independent of their own home. What Is AB 1033? In October 2023, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 1033. This new bill allows homeowners to subdivide (Subdivision Map Act) existing or newly built ADUs as condominiums, paving the way for sale independently of the primary residence. Beginn ..read more

That Is, as Long as They Are Legal. If you’re a multi-family property owner, you may be leaving money on the table by not maximizing the number of rentable units you own. Accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, are an ideal way in which to increase your cash flow in the immediate term. What’s more, they can expand and protect the ability of your rental real estate portfolio to generate revenue in the long-term. First, however, you have to make sure your rental units are legal. A unit is NOT legal when it has not been built with the appropriate permits. If the unit has not received a certificate of ..read more

Multi-family accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, are one of the efficient and effective ways to increase revenue for savvy property owners. They are not, however, do-it-yourself endeavors. You’ve got to handle them correctly in order to reap the benefits, from the planning stage through construction. All too often, in an effort to save money, property owners believe they have the ability to build or convert multifamily ADUs on their properties. A word of caution from the professionals: this type of wishful thinking is likely to come back to haunt you in the form of spending more on your investm ..read more

That’s Why It Pays to Work With an Industry Leader in This Highly Specialized Category of Real Estate Investment. Just as real estate in general varies widely across the Bay Area, so does the cost to build an ADU. Scoping the cost of an ADU project can be complicated. There’s a right way and many wrong ways to do it. If the project is not evaluated correctly, it can be uncomfortably unpredictable.  Get ahead of the game by working with knowledgeable resources. ADU experts can walk you through each step of the planning and budgeting process so that you know ahead of time that you can ultim ..read more

Adding ADUs is One of the Fastest, Legal Ways an Opportunistic Property Owner Can Increase Revenue. Multi-family property owners that are not looking into adding accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their property/ies could be leaving money on the table. Making money on your investment is a primary goal of any smart investor. ADUs represent a fantastic way to expand the limits of your property’s ability to generate additional cash flow and maximize the number of rentable units on your property. They increase your property value in the long run, and they are a key driver of a positive return on i ..read more

Choose One That Maximizes the Return on Your Investment. You’ve decided to investigate adding more units through the accessory dwelling units zoning process, or ADUs, on your multi-family property. That’s a huge step, because ADUs on multi-family properties can result in the fastest way a property owner can increase revenue – if done right.  “Done right” means designed and built legally, responsibly, and thoroughly vetted from all standpoints. It means working with a team of experts who are forward-thinking when it comes to anticipated cash flow and long-term value. The Right Multi-Family ..read more

It’s a given that real estate investors are, well, driven to make money. It’s also a given that adding multi-family units through the accessory dwelling units (ADUs) zoning process represents substantial opportunities for property owners to increase revenue. And, it’s a given that California has made it much easier to add ADUs on properties using more relaxed zoning laws and the “ADU zoning process.”  It’s no wonder that so many opportunistic investors are interested in how to build more units. . So, how do you build more units through the ADU process? The Short Answer: Hire a Bay Area Mu ..read more

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that takes the form of a cottage in the backyard of a single-family home is often called a granny flat (or in-law unit). The fact that granny flats are considered ADUs is a real advantage to property owners, particularly given the more streamlined zoning process state and city governments have implemented for the construction of ADUs. Cities like San Francisco and Oakland see ADUs as a relatively quick and inexpensive way of addressing the lack of affordable housing. As such, if you have the space, we believe that the conversion or construction of a granny flat ..read more

According to an article in the New York Times, in 2019, 94% of residential land in San Jose was zoned for detached, single-family homes. The article, “Cities Start to Question an American Ideal: A House With a Yard on Every Lot,” (by Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui, June 18, 2019) noted, “Townhomes, duplexes and apartments are effectively banned in many neighborhoods. Now some communities regret it.”  And rightly so, particularly high-density, urban communities like those in the Bay Area. Fast-forward to 2023 California Zoning Laws Although a housing shortage is impacting many places in t ..read more

This may go without saying, but before you start researching accessory dwelling unit financing, or ADU financing options, you must have an accurate understanding of what the project costs will be. . Costs vary a great deal depending on the type of unit (s) you will be adding; for example, converting habitable space in an existing area of your property might cost around $100,000. Higher complexity and new construction units may cost over $400,000, and conversions from non-habitable space like garages and basements will be somewhere in between. When building or converting ADUs on multi-family pr ..read more