Yucca Valley, CA Short Term Rental

[Katy Reid]

Hey all, My husband and I are in escrow on a place in Yucca Valley, CA (just west of Joshua Tree) that we plan on STRing. Has anyone submitted an application here recently? Or been approved? I'm looking over the application now and it is shockingly thorough (see the list of submittal requirements below - eek!). 

[Michael Baum]

Hey @Katy Reid, should be interesting when they notify your neighbors. The rest seems normal for the high restriction of STR's in places like this.

Have you spoken with all the neighbors in the immediate area? How do they feel about it? Can they put the kibosh on the plan if they complain to the city/county?

[Nick Jacobson]

I'm not too familiar with Yucca Valley's requirements but anything that further increases the barrier of entry is a net positive to me and I would imagine for those who are doing things legally, like yourself. With that said, the list looks fairly straight forward to me. The biggest red flag looks like the notarized acknowledgment that the building complies with all codes at the time of construction. Are they expecting you to hire an engineer? 

[Ashlyn Harris]

How do you go about getting a home approved for STR?

[Vinci S.]

@Katy Reid hey Katy lets work together. I'm also about to close on a property soon in JTree and will have to go through the same thing. luckily i know a few people who are already airbnb-ing in the area and can ask them.

[Katy Reid]

@Vinci S. great idea! DM me? 

Congrats! 

[Daniela Sangello]

Katy,

how did it go? Were you successful in securing the str permit? Could the neighboors compromise the process? Do they only get notified about it or do they need to approve it? 

i am considering buying a property and any feedback would be highly appreciated

[Account Closed]

@Katy Reid and @Vinci S., I'd be curious to know how it went with getting permitted in Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree. Were you successful? Lessons learned? Are your rentals up and running?

[Katy Reid]

@Chad Lanting etc. learned a few days ago that my property is actually unincorporated so I need to go through San Bernardino County which the Yucca Ey admin called “stricter”. Have been too busy to confirm but I’ve got a call into SB county land use.

Tip: double check which cities permits you need before filing and paying for anything.

[Christina Hall]

We have an STR permit in San Bernardino County for Lake Arrowhead. Was a very smooth process.

[Daniela Sangello]

I also have a property in San Bernardino unincorporated, and it was pretty smooth. You will be ok there. 

[Katy Reid]

@Christina Hall @Daniela Sangello thanks for the reassurance! :) any advice? 

[Christina Hall]

We got ours during COVID so the inspection was a breeze as they only did an exterior walk through. Things have likely changed now but the interior Inspection is the hardest part from what I’ve heard. The requirements though are easy to meet. The county may also be backlogged with staffing shortages so just factor that in when applying and your timeline. 

[David Brooks]

We received our STR permit on our Arrowhead SFR this summer as well - they only did an outside drive-by for the STR inspection, but the process itself was a chore; it took us nearly three months from application to completion (partially because they found a five-year-old unclosed building permit on us literally at the last minute).

Also looking in to JT/YV for our next STR, so very interested to hear from others with experience/advice in this arena!

[Katy Reid]

@David Brooks 3 months!! Can you elaborate on unclosed building permit? We've got an unpermitted building on site but it wont be part of our rental... Wondering if that's going to be an issue.

[David Brooks]

@Katy Reid Ours was for a simple bathroom remodel, and after tracking down and talking with the contractor on the job, it seems the county lost the permit finalization anyway. 

They will do at least a drive-by for the STR inspection, at which point they might spot an unpermitted structure or addition - there's a chance it might get you in to trouble. I know they are being really careful about permits on STRs in the unincorporated areas right now.

[Peter Mckernan]

There is an investor on here that focuses in that area Sati Ah. She would be able to help out on this. I know one investor that has one in 29 palms, and two investors that have each one in JT.

[Account Closed]

@Katy Reid, thanks for the update. Hope even if the process is "stricter" you get through it fine and are that much more ready for the next deal.

[Kristi Kautz]

@Katy Reid - I went through this process with SB county (unincorporated) already - was able to get a permit issued for one house, and the other I'm still in the process...but if you get stuck, call me, and maybe I can help! xo

[Katy Reid]

@Kristi Allain thanks lady! Will def hit you up. Have been very focused on the renovation so far but have to get on top of it

[Kristi Kautz]

Also, thought it might be helpful to share this here... someone just sent me a DM asking about the SB county permitting process, and here's what I responded with:

I think you'll be fine getting a vacation rental permit as long as your property is up to county code. And what it takes to bring it to county code might be affordable or it might be expensive - it all depends. But it should be doable, as long as you have some funds saved for just in case. I recommend going in person to their offices (if they're open) to talk things through rather than trying to do everything via email... they were closed when I did my application, but I've heard that it's more efficient in person.

You'll also need to hire someone to create as-built drawings for your house (so you can show square footage, locations of smoke alarms, fireplaces, how many beds, etc. and same for your property to show setbacks, easements, parking, locations of trash cans, etc., which you will need to submit to the county with your application. You might be able to draw these up yourself if you're good at that sort of thing, but make sure everything is measured precisely, because I accidentally submitted the wrong square footage of a garage we were permitting as livable (with my own drawing), and that mistake cost me a lot of time and extra fees.

You can reach out to the county and ask for their records of your property, with a list of everything that's been permitted, but it usually takes longer than 30 days to receive the records. Still a good thing to request. If you're currently in escrow or making an offer, you can also ask the seller or seller's agent if anything is unpermitted and see if they can disclose anything.

It also depends whether you plan to make upgrades to your house... if you do, make sure you get everything permitted properly through the county. For (a personal) example, if you want to use your garage as a sleeping space and put a bed in it, you'll need to get the proper permit for converting it to livable space, which costs $2k minimum in permit fees, plus costs to have an engineer create title 24 documents, and you'll need proper heating/cooling, egress, etc. Another example - if you have any new electrical or plumbing work done, such as an outdoor shower, hot tub, or electric car charger, all of these need to be permitted with the county. And due to covid, inspectors haven't been going inside for inspections, so if that's still the case, you might get lucky. They didn't go inside for ours, so the majority of what they required from us were things visible from the exterior of the property (unfortunately our garage door is glass, so that's how they saw there was a bed in there).

[Katy Reid]

@Kristi Allain this is great!

[Kristi Kautz]

FYI, thought I'd drop this here for others who are trying to determine if their property is in:

• The Town of Yucca Valley: (stricter, faster to get permits, more organized, will likely have to pay to have your property connected to the new sewage system), or...
• Unincorporated / San Bernardino County: (less strict, less organized, slower to get permits, not part of the new sewage system plan). 

So HERE IS A MAP... if you're within the green area, you're Town of Yucca Valley... outside of the green area, you're unincorporated. 

[David Brooks]

I posted this link on another thread, but this is where I started the process of getting the STR permit for the unincorporated mountain or desert areas of San Bernardino county - https://wp.sbcounty.gov/ezop/p... I'm happy to answer any questions as well. 

I was able to sketch up my own plot maps in an hour or so, and it was adequate for the permit process. Aside from the afore-mentioned snafu regarding an un-finalized permit, it was a smooth (if slow) process. 

[Lucy Richardson]

Apologies if this has already been covered but does anyone know if you can apply for a STR rental permit from San Bernardino while you are in escrow? Or do you have to wait until the property closes to start the application process? I'm currently in escrow on a property in JT and wanting to get it online as soon as possible.

[David Brooks]

@Lucy Richardson

I'd call the county and ask (the phone number if in the link I posted earlier) - technically, you are certifying on the application that you are the owner (or an authorized representative), which you technically aren't until escrow closes - but this might be a question they get regularly, and they may consider it acceptable.