All Forum Posts by: Jim G.

Just curious to know if this would be happening in San Jose, where I have SFH with long term tenants who are still renting.

Hi, @Jason Hsiao  I would try to find time to attend and network with the people.  However, I cannot figure out the time of this event.  The title says 

07/17/19 01:00PM - 01:00PM America/Los_Angeles;   5th floor conference room, 550 South Winchester Blvd San Jose, 

But the message body says:

Agenda:
5:30pm - Networking
6:00pm - Introduction | Ask & Wants
6:15pm - Featured speakers
7:15pm - Q&A and Networking

Found a contractor. I am in the process of build a detached ADU in San Jose... will report back the progress.

For a 1500sf house with crawl space to enforce the foundation with Simpson Strong-tie Retrofit, a contractor quote me $10k while HomeAdvisor.com quote average in my area (zip code) is around $4.5k.  Any idea how it should be in San Jose area?  Any contractor recommendation are welcome.

@Gaurav Mehta in general, the cities in bay area are loosing up the rule for ADU. But the nuance of the rule is still different city by city. Some city might have just loose the restrictions and have yet reflect on its website. So the best is to be in the city permit department to ask. I am building an ADU in San Jose w/o owner occupancy required. But just 10 month ago, the ADU rule in San Jose was different. Same as Fremont. I introduced a friend who is in Fremont to use the same contractor for the ADU. Fremont has just loose up the rule to allow him to build a detached 3bed/3bath for 1050 sf ADU which is more favorable than that of San Jose now.

@Gaurav Mehta in general, the cities in bay area are loosing up the rule for ADU. But the nuance of the rule is still different city by city. Some city might have just loose the restrictions and have yet reflect on its website. So the best is to be in the city permit department to ask. I am building an ADU in San Jose w/o owner occupancy required. But just 10 month ago, the ADU rule in San Jose was different. Same as Fremont. I introduced a friend who is in Fremont to use the same contractor for the ADU. Fremont has just loose up the rule to allow him to build a detached 3bed/3bath for 1050 sf ADU which is more favorable than that of San Jose now.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

@Adam Mayberry, thanks for the input. If this were the case, then gas water heater would be the only option regardless tanked or tankless. Is it possible if I put a submeter in the gas line to the ADU to calculate the usage of gas for ADU (not a separately gas meter which the cost will be ridiculously high)?

Plan to build a new detached ADU (or so called in-laws unit) in my San Jose rental home. By city's rule, it is qualified for $700sf 1B/1B detached. I plan to put 1 shower, 1 dishwasher and 1 wash/dryer. Again by rule, both main unit and this ADU can be rented out separately. I want to separate utility bill, mainly electricity and gas, between main SFH and ADU. Heard it is very difficult to separate gas meter, option is to feed electricity only to ADU.

For HVAC, I think split type of A/C unit should be fine for both cooling and heating for 700sf space, run by electricity, given the mild CA bay area's weather.   For hot water, this is my concern... this where my dilemma is.  Is tankless electric water heater efficient enough to heat up the water for shower/dishwasher/laundry.  I believe people out there have done ADU should have some experience on this.  Let me know your thoughts.

I saw the the check box in the  CAR form SPQ V.A.8 "Insurance claims affecting the Property within the past 5 years".  The seller as "No".  However, after I bough this property and my insurance did a research and find a ~$5000 water damage claim (none weather) a few month ago.  Since I cannot provide any receipt/invoice, my insurance need to bump up the rate.  I even don't know whether the previous owned used the insurance money indeed property to fix the damage.  What can I do to the seller as the property is just recorded today (closing was yesterday)?