All Forum Posts by: Joseph Ayoub

Hey fellow DMV community! Long post here, but I am considering putting an offer on a property in Montgomery County, Maryland and converting the basement into an accessory dwelling unit. I called the Montgomery County Licensing and Registration office with my questions and they told me to just "look online" for the regulations, so here is what I found:

Class 3 ADU Requirements (last updated 3/4/2020 after the new ADU law in MoCo passed)

2020 MoCo Housing Code Enforcement Guide

In the Housing Code Enforcement Guide, it states room length and width requirements for "minimum dwelling standards" and "habitable space." There is no ceiling height requirement for these two categories. It states that for sleeping areas, "50% of the ceiling height must be at least seven feet high" but "Basements must have a minimum ceiling height of six feet eight inches." 

In the ADU requirements, it states specifically "Basement Ceiling Heights: Accessory Dwelling Units located in finished basements or cellars must have a ceiling height of at least 6'8", except a beam, girder, duct or other obstruction may project to within 6'4" of the finished floor." It makes no mention of sleeping area height.

So my questions are the following:

• In order to create a basement ADU with bedrooms, what is the ceiling requirement? Does 50% of ceiling height have to be 7' or is the blanket 6'8" acceptable since it is a basement?
• If I sell the house (or move out and rent the house) and remove the stove in the basement ADU kitchen, would the 6'8" basement bedroom still be useable as a bedroom? Moreover, would the entire basement area now be considered "finished space" and add to the square footage?
• Alternatively, if finishing the space only meets ADU requirements (but not standard finished space or bedroom requirements) could I keep the space finished and market the property as a single family home with an ADU? Does that add value to a property?

My goal here is to determine what value (if any) will come from finishing the basement based on these regulations in MoCo. The property I'm considering is an older home that is cutting it close with some of these ceiling heights in the basement. Based on estimates I have received for other homes, I'm certain that digging out the entire basement would definitely throw the numbers off. 

Any suggestions around this topic would be really great. Or, if anyone has contacts/contractors I can reach out to for a definite answer in MoCo as part of my own due diligence, that would be a step in the right direction. Appreciate any insight and help that y'all can provide!

@Anthony Fanucci From a "functional" standpoint, having a separate entrance, separate bath, and separate kitchen for the basement helps maintain privacy. As Russel said though, if you don't want to go through this hassle, having a roommate just live in the basement where you share spaces, like the kitchen, is pretty easy. 

Speaking for DC from a legal standpoint, you'd want to check with DCRA for all the official regulations and work with a contactor and get permits for any changes you make to the basement (like if you add a bathroom or kitchen). To get you started: https://handbook.dcoz.dc.gov/u... 

Another legal point to consider is that if/when you move out, the ADU (basement) will have to get converted back to a regular basement. This is pretty much just removing the kitchen and stove. According to that website, ADUs have to be owner occupied. As with all rentals in DC, even while it is owner occupied, you'd want to get a basic business license and be aware that the property will get a rental inspection by the city. You can get the BBL yourself pretty easy online or you can work with a lawyer.

I think your best bet would be to try and find a home in DC and convert/finish a basement to an in-law suite. From what I have seen, rents in DC are typically a little bit higher than surrounding areas, especially if you are close to a metro station or in a moderately walkable neighborhood (basement units with their own kitchens can go from anywhere between $1000-$1600+ per month). For the 700k price point, you can check out neighborhoods like Petworth, Brightwood, Takoma, and Michigan Park - many houses in those areas still have modest sized yards for the city and many also have off street parking for a car.

Hey, William - welcome to the area! In my personal experience house hacking by the room, I think 940 square feet for 3BR (really a 2BR flex) would be pushing it in Alexandria. From what I have seen, renters in Alexandria are looking for a little bit more space than DC. The flex sort of setup like that might be difficult to pull off outside of DC proper, especially because there are many by-the-room options in Arlington/Alexandria/Fairfax that would be $700-$900 per room that have a full common area (among the other amenities you listed). You might be able to get away with something like that in DC proper, I've seen 3BRs in neighborhoods in Columbia Heights around 900 square feet, although its a tight fit and definitely lowers rents. You'd be better off trying to get a SFH or townhouse and renting by the room that way IMO. In my house hack, the roommates use the common areas/living room occasionally, especially the kitchen table to eat or sometimes do work, so I'd say even a small living room is important to have.

@Russell Brazil thanks for the additional info. Do they go through an auctioneer and are the properties open to everyone, or are they through a lottery? 

@Eric Teran that's good to consider, have most of the people you've worked with used hard money to fund their deals or did anyone use a 203k loan? I took at a look public tax records for a few of the properties and the owner was listed as "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA" but I can check out some more to see if I can reach out to individual owners. 

Hey, all - I am curious on how to purchase and repair a blighted property that is owned by the city of DC. I did a bit of research and came across Transforming Vacant and Blighted Properties from DCHD and the dashboard of properties that are available. 

From doing some quick reading, my questions are: 

- When are these properties available? Are they only available at auction or at set times? 

- How would I go about making an offer on a property from this dashboard that I am interested in? 

- Who would I need to work with from the city and who would I need to work with contractor wise to make a proposal? 

- What kind of restrictions/regulations should I be aware of if I repair a blighted property (does it have to be workforce/affordable housing, are there AMI requirements, can I be an owner-occupant etc) 

- How can I tour properties to determine scope of work?

Has anyone done this and if so, what has your experience been? Any help or points of contact (contractors or otherwise) would be greatly appreciated, since this is all new for me. Thanks!

Thanks for the responses, they have all been really helpful! As a follow up question, in the jurisdictions where you have to be an owner occupant, does that mean you have to remove the ADU or basement apartment? Or does it mean that you only rent the property as a single unit? For example, if I house hack in DC and create an approved basement apartment type ADU with a kitchen, do I have to remove the kitchen when I move out, or do I just rent the entire property?

Hey all, I'm looking for my next house hack in the DMV and since inventory has been pretty low, I'm considering adding an in-law suite or ADU to a potential property. My question is does anyone have experience doing this in the metro DC area (PG County, Montgomery County, Washington, D.C. Alexandria, Arlington, or Fairfax County) and if so, can you tell me about your experience? Specifically, I want to know what the process looks like, the legalities behind it, zoning considerations, etc. I want to make sure that if I add an in-law suite or ADU it is legal and if I move out, the property will still be legally rentable. So depending on the ease/information, it will help me narrow my search to a more specific market.

My first house hack was EOTR and I'm currently expanding my search to Anacostia for my second house hack. I think areas that are a 10-15 min walk either the Anacostia metro station, 11th St. Bridge, or Fredrick Douglass Memorial bridge will have the best upside potential. What will really propel economic growth or a desire to live in these areas is walkability - being able to walk 10 mins to the metro and take it to work makes jobs and living much more accessible for renters/buyers than having to drive or navigate the bus system, which may be more sporadic in timing. Doesn't hurt to be right across the bridge from Nats Park either. In addition to being close to Navy Yard, there are some cool projects coming to Anacostia as were mentioned: https://anacostiabid.org/devel...

From an investor perspective, I think it depends how much risk you're willing to take. Many areas in SE DC still have high levels of property and violent crime, although it has been going down over the past few years according to DC Crime Cards. If you're willing to balance that downside with the increasing price values, there could be real opportunity there, IMO. 

For me, the biggest value that an agent can provide is being knowledgeable of the end-to-end process to achieve my goals. This is often shown by having achieved the goal themselves. For example, if my goal is to houshack and add a basement apartment to my townhouse, then having an agent who knows the purchase market, rental market, zoning laws, rental laws, contractors, and lenders needed to get the job done would provide the most value. Also, being able to think creatively is a huge plus. In this same example, if I want to turn a basement into an apartment and house hack, an agent that chooses to look for houses with unfinished space or value add opportunities would be providing a lot.