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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]