Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's), have become a very hot topic in California. An ADU is basically a second unit placed on the same lot as your primary residence. We recently had the pleasure of having John Arendsen of Crest Backyard Homes give us an overview of ADU's on our ActiveRain Zoom meeting. His company specializes in placing manufactured homes in client's backyards. John's presentation covered many topics.
ADU's offer a relatively inexpensive way to increase the number of housing units in California, a state that is in dire need of more housing units. California has even recently made it easier to add ADU's to your property streamlingin the process.
ADU's can also be used for child care options, to house care givers or family members and they can be rented to supplement the income of the homeowner. Even though we are in the midst of the pandemic, Mr. Ardensen says their business was way up this past year. He has been busier this past year than he has been in the last ten years. There are just so many good reasons to consider adding ADU's in California. I imagine that goes for most of the country.
Mr. Arendsen says there are several steps and considerations for adding a second unit to your property.
- If there is a septic tank, options need to be explored for utilizing it or even moving it.
- Options need to be explored for utilizing or upgrading current utilities, such as electric, gas, water and sewer.
- The type of build has to be determined, as well as, determining the best architectural style for the area. Some HOA's have requirements that homeowners have to follow.
- The amount of area the primary and secondary unit will cover of the total land has to be considered. There are coverage limits and setbacks from property lines that need to be considered.
- The estimated start day needs to be determined.
- The length of the project needs to be considered. Mr. Arendsen says that in a perfect world, most projects using a manufactured home could be completed in about 4-12 weeks from the issuance of permit. Getting the permit can be an issue, though. County staffs and hours have been cut due to the pandemic. The permit is the unknown and can take time (2 to 6 months). Once the permit is obtained, the manufacturing of the second unit can begin. (Note-timelines have been corrected, see John Arendsen's comments below for a more thorough explanation)
- The overall budget of the project needs to be determined and evaluated. Does the project make sense monetarily?
- How will the project be paid for and will a loan be needed? There are lenders that specialize in these type of projects. Loan Depot is one of them.
Crest Backyard Homes can help homeowners in San Diego every step of the way.
I believe ADU's are going to continue to gain in popularity. California, in particular, needs many more housing options. Our population is aging. Senior housing is very expensive. Homeowners are looking for extra income. There are just so many reasons these second units make sense.
Thank you John DL Arendsen for such a thorough presentation. I hope I have expressed your presentation well. You are definitely a great example of the value our weekly Zoom calls bring our ActiveRain members.
Thank you also to Jeff Dowler, CRS and Debe Maxwell, CRS for hosting this month's ActiveRain Challenge. It's a great way to showcase all of the great information that we get in our Zoom meetings from week to week. I also love getting to see the faces of so many ActiveRain members that I have only met via the written word. Debe, you run the meetings very well and I am looking forward to next Tuesday.
ActiveRain members, if you have not joined us, come visit us next Tuesday, the 12th. It will feature Ken Jones discussing Podcast tips. I think you will really enjoy it!
Kathy Streib, I hope you do not mind, but I borrowed your link to our next meeting Thank you!
Here is the link to each Zoom meeting
11:00 a.m. Pacific
12:00 p.m. Mountain
1:00 p.m. Central
2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Raymond Henson, SRES, GRI, e-Pro
3412 Babson Drive
Elk Grove, CA 95758
RayRHenson@gmail.com
916-698-8415
Great information. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day!
ADU's are great revenue generators.
Have a Great 2021
Happy Selling!
Good morning, Raymond Henson, SRES, GRI ADU's are a wonderful idea if your zoning allows it....THAT'S the biggest issue....
I learned from John's presentation and I had no idea about this niche. Nice summary of meeting Raymond!
Good morning Raymond Henson, SRES, GRI we do get a number of great speakers and great topics on the Tuesday calls. Great post today!
Hi Ray.... you really provided an amazingly comprehensive review of John's presentation on ADU's. Well done!
Hello Raymond, John did a great job of explaining this subject and learn so much from it.
Thank you Kristin Johnston - REALTOR®. It is always great to have you stop by. Have a great weekend!
And a very happy selling to you, Brad Thomsen. I am thankful that we connected on social media and on ActiveRain.
I agree with you Barbara Todaro. It seems like CA is making a concerted effort to make it easier. We will see. It is great to see you! ! !
John sure did have a lot to share, Lawrence "Larry" & Sheila Agranoff. Cell: 631-805-4400. I learned a lot as well.
Thank you so much Rocky Dickerson and Nina Hollander. Thank you both for taking the time to visit and comment on my post.
I appreciate your comment, Will Hamm. I sure learned a lot as well.
Thank you very much for sharing your Zoom session experience.
Take care, be safe and have a very special weekend.
Hi Raymond- great job of summing up John DL Arendsen's Zoom presentation. I had no idea about ADU's but I learned so much Tuesday.
Great rcap Raymond Henson, SRES, GRI You did an amazing job of assimilating a lot of information so thoroughly and in a very short period of time and then regurgitating it so precisley and articulatly.
Thank God it doesn't take 2 years for the permit process though. It normally only takes about 2-6 months.
But the good news is that when the permit is issued you can start the site work at the same time the HUD manufactured BACKYARD HOME is being built and in a perfice world they will dove tail and be ready at close to the same time.
This is great news for investors who want to revisit their capital invesment ASAP and in order to start realinz that ROI and additional revenue stream. It's also great that folks don't have to deal with myriad trucks, materials, equipmemth misc crews etc running through your property like a revloving door. Additionally, exposuure to weather, vanealizm and pilfeage is almost not existant.
I'm so thrilled to se so many folks taking a serious look at this whole industry. It truly becoming a major growth industry almost overnight.
Thank you Roy Kelley. I hope you are doing well.
I think we both learned a lot Kathy Streib.
Thank you John DL Arendsen for clearing up the permit timeline for me. What is the general timeline from when you have the permit in hand until the project is completed? And I am looking forward to your next presentation!
As I mentioned Raymond Henson, SRES, GRI in a perfect world the site work, utilities and foundation preparation can be done simultaneous to the manufacturing of the BACKYARD HOME. So ideally they could dovetail in one felt swoop. Depending on the time of year it will take anywhere from 4-12 weeks to make the home and about 4-6 weeks for the site development.
Our record of fastest turnaround time ever was obtaining the permit in 4 weeks. Then we ordered the home while the site work was being done which took a miraculous 17 days and another 5 days to install it put the skirting on and build the steps.
We've never been able to replicate that unless it was in the aftermath of a disaster i.e. flood, fire, hurricane, earthquake when FEMA cleared the way with all the red tape and bureaucracy
Thanks for such a thorough summary of John's presentation earlier this wee, Ray. I know I learned alot!
Jeff
I was not able to attend the zoom meeting, but you have provided an excellent summary.
Thank you for your update, John DL Arendsen. I appreciate your clarification. I must have fallen asleep during that section of your presentation. 😉
Thank you Jeff Dowler, CRS. These thoughtful presentations keep me coming back each Tuesday.
Brian England, we missed you for sure. Hope to see you soon!
Hi Raymond Henson, SRES, GRI - I found John DL Arendsen 's presentation to be very informative. Yes, child care providors is a great idea also grown children not living in the basement.
Those are great additions Grant Schneider. Thank you for chipping in!