Five steps to build your ADU

by Richard Jaramillo (RJ) on June 7th, 2022i

Richard “RJ” and wife Beth Jaramillo live in the San Diego community of Rancho Bernardo. Living in San Diego County for over 35 years, they are going through the experience of “empty nesting”, aging parents and their future retirement years.

With all these things happing in front of them, RJ & Beth decided to leave their options open with the build out of an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to give them the flexibility for the future.

Follow these four main steps when building your ADU, and the rest will fall into place.

TLDR: Your job first and foremost is to find a great lender, find a great architect, and find a great contractor. Building an A-team from the beginning helps keep you from micromanaging every decision. It is important that you find professionals that you trust, and whom display good communication.

Step 1: Choose an ADU type Choose

You know your property better than anyone, and probably already have a place in mind to build an ADU. If you haven't already, then this is the time to start taking rough measurements and imagining what kind of ADU would be best suited to you and your property as a whole.

Step 2: Delve into planning Planning

There are three main paths to planning your ADU build; working with an architect, working with a draftsman, or using free templates like those you can find from the SD housing department.

If you’re going to do a garage conversion or build on top of your ADU, most housing commissions/ city housing departments (SD housing department) have free templates that don’t require an architect, thereby saving you money.

Working with a draftsman will fit to most other cases, since in the state of California you don't need an architect to build an ADU unless the structure is larger than two stories. These professionals will typically quote somewhere around half what you'd expect from an architect.

Although architects will usually charge anywhere around $10,000 for ADU plans, you typically get what you pay for. When speaking to an architect, you're going to want to discuss your plans for the build thusfar, and the layout you're imagining. A good architect will be able to find out the laws pertaining to your residence that would restrict sizing, easements, etc.

You'll want to get a copy of your house's blueprints, and depending on the incline of your land, you may require a topography assessment before you can proceed.

Step 3: Get a feasibility study Feasibility Study

You'll want a feasibility study to determine what your designs are actually going to cost to build. Contact us to begin your feasibility study today!

Step 4: Budget budget image

It is crucial you see a lender regarding your finances and qualifications. Most mortgage loan officers don't charge until you officially close on a loan, so it can't hurt to strategize with a professional.

Once you secure financing, always anticipate that you will go over budget due to unforeseen permitting, supply chain, labor, or inflation costs during your build. We have a team of loan officers we typically work with, and will always refer you to the best professional to suit your needs.

Step 5: Build your A-team Team

We can introduce you to a licensed architect or contractor that will get your project started.

You should lay out plans for meeting with your contractor regularly to get updates and status on options and finances. Most contractors will have a shared project application that all important decision makers can have access to see progress photos, visualize the budget allowances, communicate in an open platform, and share selections of items and materials.

Discussing the budget for each phase of the project is also important. Often times there are options for areas splurge or cut costs as long as good communication exists.