All Forum Posts by: DG A.

Curious what you guys think of this: 

Pay the neighbor for 33 sq. ft. for their land, and grant them an easement for the exact land I bought from them. 

The idea being I buy it from them,  give them access to that land with the easement,  and there's no need to move fences. It's essentially a pay out for a change on paper that doesn't affect the neighbor's use of their land. 

Interesting... I'll look into this.  Something else worth mentioning. 

The property next door to mine is actually a part of a mutual easement. We each use a piece of each other's land as a shared driveway to drive into our separate properties,  and park in the back.  

They're actually "twin" buildings making a 5 unit complex on 2 parcels. The property next door is a triplex in a smaller lot,  that was grand fathered in.

I wonder if that easement could be argued to provide the square footage needed to qualify for a conditional use permit.

My property is on the left,  the "twin" on the right. 

@Seth what is that? And how could I use it?

I sent an email into the counter, and they recommended I use a "pre-application" review. Essentially, reviewing building plans with the guys at the planning counter. It's kind of confusing because I'm expecting a "no" from them, but it's as if they want me to spend $4,000 - $5,000 on an architect to get the "no." lol

Hi Folks, 

I want to add a 3rd unit to a duplex I own, but my lot is 33 sq. ft. too small. Here's the deal...

I own a duplex that sits on a 7,467 sq. ft. lot and it's located in an RM-2 Zone in Oakland, CA. 

I've looked up the sq. ft. requirements for the RM-2 zone and the planning code says you can have 3 or more units on the lot, as long as there is 2,500 Sq Ft of lot area per unit. So, in order to have 3 units on my lot I would need a 7,500 sq. ft. lot.
  

See here: 

My lot is 7,467 sq. ft. which makes it 33 sq. ft. short of meeting the conditional use criteria of 2,500 sq. ft. per unit to be able to add a 3rd unit to my duplex.

Questions:

• Has anyone out there solved a similar problem? 
• What do I need to do to find a way to add my 3rd unit? (Neighbors are not interested in selling me 33 sq. ft. of land)
• I've heard about cities allowing variances, but I'm not sure how they work or if I would qualify for a variance to the planning code in my situation. Has anyone out there successfully gotten a variance? Would you share your experience?

My duplex is in Fruitvale, not that far from Lake Merrit.

The current ordinance is here: https://library.municode.com/ca/oakland/codes/code...

A protected tenant (disabled, over 60) cannot be evicted, but if the property is NOT subject to rent control you can raise the rent on that tenant. For example, you move into a property of 3 or fewer units and live there for 2 years. Then you can raise the rent to market rate. 

Yup! What Saj said!

I'm working with Israel Gonzalez, he used to be the leader of a door-knocking team for a construction company in Oakland, that served the whole east bay. He still knocks doors as a means of finding listings, so he actually finds off-market stuff from time to time. You should keep in mind though, that most sellers that want to sell off market are sellers who's buildings don't qualify for standard conventional financing (because they're in bad shape). 

Anyway, he knows east-bay neighborhoods really well. It looks like he checks off everything on your list. Full disclosure, he is my dad, so grain of salt there, but might be worth a call for you two. If you're interested, PM me, and I'll connect you. 

Hey @Chris Mason

This only works for first time home buyers?

Would you be able to use this grant on a HomeStyle loan?

you might be able to sue the inspector and win,  but the inspector will counter that they are a general inspector and not an electrical inspector