All Forum Posts by: Gabriel Garcia

Have you completed your JADU project? I am looking to do the same. How big is the JADU?

Friendly bump :)

I have a 1,360 sqft home in Hayward, CA on a 6,100 sqft lot. The 2 garage  measures 17'x20'. The garage shares a wall with the second living room.

Here is a picture so you can get an idea of the lot + house sizes: https://imgur.com/a/chPO0k5

Initially, I had decided to convert the garage and second livingroom into a small (530sqft ish) 1br1bd to rent out. I am doing everything myself with the help of family that work in constructions. Estimated costs are about 20-30k (if anyone knows someone that can help me out with title 24, please let me know!)

However, someone on this forum recommended to look into making it a dettatched ADU, as I would not lose square footage in the main house (with conversion, main home would be 870 sqft) and would bring up the value of the property if I ever look to sell the house or get a HELOC for future. For this, I would not be able to do the work myself so I asked my brother-in-law (who builds homes under a contractor) and he said he can probably do it for 120k-140k. WIll look around for quotes on this as well to confirm prices.

What do you guys think? Is the added cost of doing a detattched ADU in the backyard worth it? Or should I continue with the original plan to convert the garage?

Thank you!

Thank you for your thoughtful and well-written response @Chace Fraser !

I looked into the FHA loan in my county/city, and it seems that the limit is $1,472,550 for 4 living-units. This would be with a 3.5% down since my credit score is in the mid 760's. The most beneficial thing of this loan would be the low down payment, but I am wondering if there are any other, more creative/beneficial, ways to finance. This is including private lenders (which for the most part, I've heard is a big no-no on first purchase).

Other MFR with 4 units have been sitting on the market for a while, but very rarely have low vacancies. I am guessing this is because of the high entry cost/age of the buildings (most were built in the 30's!). I come from a family of General Contractors, so reno/rehab does not really scare me much. I am very hands on from having worked construction in the past with my father. Anyways, to return to the point, I feel like letting this property sit on the market for a bit might be a wiser move than moving in immediately. My thought process is that this would give me more negotiation room, and allow me some breathing room to do further research on the area. If I want to qualify for an FHA loan, I would need to be in the range 1.5M range (pay 100k and finance 1.4M with 50k down). Financing is currently my biggest problem.

Hello BiggerPockets! Been lurking for a few months, and finally got the guts to post!

I just graduated as a software engineer here in the Silicon Valley, and was fortunate enough to land a pretty good job. My salary is $125k/year before tax with total compensation of $180k (after bonus, RSUs, etc). This amount is expected to grow in a few years if I get a promotion! No debt.

I am getting sick of paying 2.5k for rent on a 1b1ba apartment and was looking it house hack to at least mitigate my living expenses.

A duplex runs for about 1M-1.5M, and a quadplex runs from 1.7M-2.2M (runs higher, but this is where I cap myself). I am planning on being an owner-occupant for the first year so that I have more flexibility on my financing options.

I would be a first time home buyer, so I want to leverage that as much as I can (use any loan programs, etc).

This is my math on a 1.7M quadplex (townhouse style) that is in the market. Each unit is 2b1ba. This would be with a 30 year fixed rate loan assuming I can come up with 300k (I can probably put down 200k) for down payment (maybe get another loan or crowdsource from family):

Monthly mortgage including taxes, interest, and home insurance: $7900/month

Per unit cost: $1972/month

Rent in the area for 2b1ba: 2.5k-3.2k (closer time 2.8k for a very similar model).

Possible cashflow @ 2.8k renting 3: ($2800 * 3 units) - $7900 mortgage = $500 POSITIVE

I don’t mind being in the negative a few months as I can afford it for the most part from the money I would be able so put away from my regular job. What do you guys think? I am mainly trying to mitigate my housing costs and not necessarily live rent free.