All Forum Posts by: Tim Kunz

@Scott Scoville the property is in the city, you're saying the inspectors are requiring all your supporting walls to be fire rated?

@Carini Rochester The code seems clear(ish) but I've built many types of structures including apartments/dormitories/hospital and have never had to fire rate the exterior walls (unless they were within 5' of lot line). It would be surprising the think the intent of the code was for this to only apply to two-family dwellings. Seemingly if I made this an ADU instead of a duplex I wouldn't have to rate these walls, once again complicating the intent of the code.

Just above the code section I reference one of the exceptions to fire-rated walls includes exterior walls of individual dwelling units on the same lot, which may eliminate my need to rate those exterior support walls. Fire rating exterior walls on structures like these would be another expensive requirement that would continue to drive up the cost housing which is the last thing we need.

Here's the code section I found Exception #2

@Jacob St. Martin I agree and fully expect to fire rate the floor/ceiling separating the units but the exterior walls that the units don't share does not seem typical and that's what I'm looking for clarification on.  Thanks for the reply though.

I purchased an SFR in Sacramento, it's currently a studio over a 3 car garage. We're planning on turning the garage space into another unit with the goal to get it zoned as a duplex. Has any in California converted a property in a similar situation. I'm running into hangups with code section R302.3.1 which seemingly requires not only the floor separating the units to be fire rated but all the walls below supporting that floor to be fire rated (ie all exterior walls and load bearing interior walls on the first floor), which may mean extremely expensive fire rated windows at the lower unit. Anyone run into this issue?

That's awesome. Any photos to share? How quick is the ADU permitting process?

Looks good! What part of town was this in?

@Uchenna Okoye. Nicole Masters is currently house hacking and renting out by the room, I believe in Folsom.  I know she is here on Bigger Pockets, I'm sure you can reach out to her for more information

I agree, the term 'Mass Exodus' is an attempt by media companies to grab headlines and drive ad dollars, nothing new there. I don't think it's a good idea to dismiss the current migration numbers out of the state though, which is evident thru many sources.  Arguments made that people keep moving to the state and the population of CA keeps rising are irrelevant, we should really be looking at YoY population growth rates, which in CA has declined for a 3rd straight year which is not in line with other states in the country.  People will continue to flock to California for several reasons some of which include; popularity, climate/environment, opportunity (both for career and higher education), liberal migration laws, etc.  So yes, migration to the state will continue, presumably the majority of this will be migrants coming through our borders and foreigners from oversees seeking educational and financial opportunity.  This is a fact that can be seen in the growing racial diversity of California, it statistically being the most racially diverse state in the country.  Whether this is good or bad is an argument for another day.  I think migration out of the state is coming from middle to low income, native Californians, who can no longer afford to live here and have been pushed out directly or indirectly through poor political policies, and that should be of concern.  

California has some of the highest income and corporate taxes in the country (regardless of brackets), highest housing to income cost ratios, 13th worst K-12 education, worst homeless population in the country, and an over regulated political/legal environment to name a few

- The government continues to take our money and provide little in return, poor education, poor roads, traffic, and transport systems (high speed rail failure), failing social services (rampant homelessness), poor oversight (EDD Fraud).  It seems like so much of our taxes go to waste.

- Exorbitant housing costs. This due to regulations and fees.  Driven through excessive permitting requirements, impact fees, code requirements (solar, fire sprinklers, rain water harvesting, over-engineering), EIRs, etc.  This both raises the cost to build and limits supply, driving up home prices.

- Poor public K-12 education systems.  Failure by our government to make any real changes to raise educational levels.

- Homeless population skyrocketing driven recently by unprecedented lockdown restrictions, small business fees, taxes, and regulations make employment of others exceedingly expensive in turn raising prices and reducing the affordability of goods, minimum wage hikes business run towards automation and layoffs to stay afloat

There's no doubt about it California has one of the highest concentration of millionaires and high income earners in the country, plenty of families who can live comfortably in this state.  And it's a place where investors can make significant earnings. But it seems ineffective and damaging policies have driven a growing income divide that is now one of the worst in the country.  

How do we hang on to the middle and lower classes who play such an integral role in the economics of any state when they can move to states where there dollar goes farther?  It'll be interesting to see how California rebounds from COVID, I don't know if everyone will flood back to this state like so many on this thread think.  The ability to work from home is undoubtably increasing, disregarding COVID, remote work will continue to grow as businesses look to lower costs and software continues to improve.  A lot of people will return to offices but not like it was pre-COVID.  I think another factor is age demographics, with the largest age groups coming into their early to mid thirties looking to grow a family do other states make more sense financially.  Sure California is fun while you're young and dumb and spending all your money instead of saving, what happens when that starts to change.

California will always be a powerhouse for what is has, culture, environment, climate, tech, Hollywood, agriculture, tourism, etc. but it will be interesting to see how the next decade will payout.  As a lifelong Californian I thought I'd never leave but no doubt about it I've been considering leaving now more than ever before and I don't think I'm alone. Just my 2 cents.

As a contractor myself I have not been in your situation.

What I can say is, you're gonna get what you pay for. In a booming construction market like this it's going to be nearly impossible to find a contractor who can do it fast, cheap, and with quality.  Without knowing the full scope of work required (framing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc.) it's impossible to even compare or comment on those bids you received.  I could go on and on about this but don't want to bore you, feel free to reach out with specific questions though or provide a full scope of work and maybe I can provide more insight.

@Victor Rallo looking for deals that I'm able to add sq footage either through an addition or build out of adu

@Justin Noethe if you can find a local printer that can do them support local all the way, if they can't there's tons of cheap websites online to get them done, just do a quick google search.

@Victor Rallo I have limited experience with this, but I did a short bandit sign campaign back in 2016 in Sacramento.  Actually ended up getting stopped by an officer while placing one, haha.  He just told me not to do it and went on with his business.  I don't know the true legalities behind it, but I've never heard of anyone getting in any real trouble for it or even getting a call from officials because of it.  They have much bigger issues to deal with imho.  Seems like the ones placed high on power poles and in more difficult locations to be easily removed stay up longer.  Don't want to give advice but just my experiences.  Let me know if you're able to come across any deals here locally you're willing to wholesale.