All Forum Posts by: Payton Chung

Just to close the loop on this, city council adopted a new ordinance last week, 7-1. Short term rentals are officially legal, whether the owner is on-site or off-site. Read more:

http://go.boarddocs.com/nc/ral...

Your father-in-law should have some insights about the construction process. Other tips:

- You're best off doing one dome at a time, and financing it as a personal residence. Depending on how the zoning works, you might be able to build a second unit under that loan -- e.g., as an accessory dwelling unit. You will likely not be able to get much construction loan consideration based on projected rental income.

- Deltec Homes sells round (not dome) house kits out of Asheville; they may have some recommendations for builders familiar with the concept.

- Keep in mind that expenses will be higher for something away from home.

- Always low-ball your expectations on rates and (especially) occupancy, since it's always better to be pleasantly than unpleasantly surprised. That said, a friend of mine has a dome rental in the Appalachians and is always surprised at the rates he can charge.

"Double master suites" or "dual master suites" are probably good search terms to begin with, especially if one's downstairs (better for a mother-in-law JADU) and another's upstairs. Another possible filter is to look for 2.5+ floor houses with a ground floor master, then looking to tweak the plan to turn an upstairs bedroom into a second master.

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As Nicholas mentioned, the lower-equity options are probably going to be construction loans; "renovation loans" may have better terms, since they're conforming single-close residential mortgages (Fannie's HomeStyle or Freddie's equivalent, ChoiceRenovation). 

Point and Hometap also do ADU financing via "shared appreciation" -- they buy a share of your future home equity, which increases by adding an ADU. I think you can stack it with a HEL/HELOC/cash-out refi.

Raleigh's new short-term rentals zoning is moving through the legislative pipeline. Do a search at the city's BoardDocs site for "TC-8-20." Seems like you should definitely be fine with renting rooms within a primary dwelling.

As far as locations go, you might start by looking at where hotels are clustered. A few years ago, I interviewed the developer of North Hills (a major office & retail destination), who said they were very pleasantly surprised with how well hotels did there -- travelers like to walk to restaurants, and be near the offices where their meetings are. (I know I do.)

There's an earlier thread here about the AirBNB regulations that you may want to refer to. Also, since you're from PDX, you're probably familiar with ADUs, which have just been legalized in Raleigh.

IIRC, no suburbs of Raleigh have yet regulated STRs, but that doesn't mean they won't in the future.

Not at this time, but can answer any questions you might have!

Both Morrisville and Apex, too, allows "accessory apartments" (ADUs) by-right in most SFH zones.

An attached ADU (basically an addition) is usually cheaper and easier, since it can share plumbing. Construction can be staged in the front yard, but it will cost more.

Another approach is to crane in a modular detached ADU. More expensive than with truck access, but not as expensive as you might think since you don't need much crane time.

Upzoning is a legal procedure, and can be very expensive for an uncertain payoff. You're much better off doing a lot split.

FWIW, went through town recently and noticed a new mayor was elected. Sounds like a step forward:

https://www.fredericknewspost....

For something the size of an ADU, a design-build approach can cut out some steps. I've had luck with finding competent leads via BuildZoom, though you should also ask around for referrals. One approach I've used is to look at recent permit filings for similar projects.

Glad to hear ADUs are legal in parts of Virginia; as you might know, there's hope for statewide legislation, and local legalization efforts in places like Fairfax County.