If your garage is just sitting empty or is doubling as a storage unit for items you don’t really need, you should consider the potential value of converting it into an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU.  ADUs provide property owners with an opportunity to capitalize on three key advantages:  1) generate rental income, 2) increase property value, and 3) help solve California’s critical affordable housing shortage.  You might even be able to add a fourth:  get [...]

Sometimes it takes a life-altering event like the Covid-19 pandemic to leave us reevaluating just about everything, including where we live – and with whom we live.  We’ve all been experiencing an unprecedented time in which a word like “pivot” has been used on a daily basis, where eviction moratoriums have gone on for extended periods of time (and then have been extended again), and where cities even like San Francisco have seen decreases in rent.  [...]

Two housing-related measures have been approved to be placed on the November ballot by the Oakland City Council, one being an expansion of properties included in the Oakland “Just Cause” for Eviction Ordinance (not to be confused with rent control which is limited by the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act).      Currently, landlords are required to state one of the eleven authorized reasons or “just causes” to evict a tenant, but only for buildings constructed prior to [...]

Removing the Doubt From the Oakland ADU Process When you’re embarking upon what could be a challenging endeavor like building an Oakland ADU – which requires  Oakland building permits and knowledge of the state laws and local ordinances – working with a team of professionals who are deeply rooted in the local planning and building department can save you precious time and money. An Oakland ADU Ordinance Summary:  Don’t Go It Alone. When it comes to [...]

What Is an ADU Building, For Starters? An accessory dwelling unit, or ADU as it’s called in the business, is a secondary house or apartment that occupies the same lot as the primary residence but with a separate entrance, kitchen, bath and bed. It may take the form of the conversion of an existing space on your property (like a garage), or building a detached, stand-alone unit on the property. ADUs offer one of the more [...]

  When considering which type of attached dwelling unit to build on your property, you have options.  One of the first decisions you need to make is which category to build:  attached versus detached.   Whether you opt for an attached ADU or a detached ADU depends on factors like desired size, budget, privacy and parking requirements, and expected return on investment.  Some of these factors, however, will be determined by forces beyond your control, such as [...]

The cost to build an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) in the Bay Area, like any other type of housing construction, depends on many factors:  size, construction method, location, and the age of your property.  In addition, elements specific to your particular ADU, like utilities, topography, and accessibility, also come into play when considering the ADU cost in the Bay Area, which will vary from the ADU cost in California as a whole due to the Bay [...]

Basement conversion If you want to understand what all the buzz around California Accessory Dwelling Units (or ADUs) is about, you have to start with the state’s housing shortage. California has long suffered from a lack of housing, particularly affordable housing. This is especially true in and around its larger metropolitan hubs and coastal communities, where restrictive zoning laws have kept neighborhoods from evolving to meet the demands of a growing population. While some [...]