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In California, you can now sell your ADU

dwell.com

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Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#21

Post by brvsft »

ADUs seem like a bandaid solution for lack of housing supply in desirable areas. Not that I think they shouldn't be legal, but we're talking about paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for what amounts to a shed in someone else's backyard just because you want to live in Seattle, SF, etc.

It's so bizarre, and if this solution is taken to its logical end, you literally have cities full of single-family homes with a class of SFH owners, and their second-class ADU "owners" who live in the fancy shed behind their home. I'm curious how the inevitable legal disputes between these two classes of owners will be treated in the coming years.

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#22

Post by bugglebeetle »

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that California has signed a suicide pact with real estate speculators that can’t be revoked because of the political consequences of enacting policies that cause prices to go down or even stabilize.

Like with the homeless crisis (which is the direct result of the housing crisis), the state will waste billions doing anything and everything to look like they’re working on the problem, while actually doing nothing meaningful because the meaningful things would cost said speculators money. This ADU law is the perfect example. More opportunity to speculate while doing nothing to make housing more affordable or available.

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#23

Post by billfor »

game_the0ry wrote: post #9

US standard of living is decreasing and will never come back. Many economic anomalies can be observed to prove this: inflation is just one. But I think the most dangerous anomaly has been real estate. In, what is ostensibly the most progressive, most prosperous state in the union, you can build a "mini house" (accessory dwelling unit) on your property and rent it out. The ideal target market would be my generation (m…

Lets keep overpopulating ad infinitum (because we are told that's the only way the economy grows) and see where we are in 100 years.

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#25

Post by c22 »

brvsft wrote: post #21

ADUs seem like a bandaid solution for lack of housing supply in desirable areas. Not that I think they shouldn't be legal, but we're talking about paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for what amounts to a shed in someone else's backyard just because you want to live in Seattle, SF, etc. It's so bizarre, and if this solution is taken to its logical end, you literally have cities full of single-family homes with a…

I know at least two properties with ADUs larger than their primary residences.

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#26

Post by game_the0ry »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #13
game_the0ry wrote: post #9

US standard of living is decreasing and will never come back. Many economic anomalies can be observed to prove this: inflation is just one. But I think the most dangerous anomaly has been real estate. In, what is ostensibly the most progressive, most prosperous state in the union, you can build a "mini house" (accessory dwelling unit) on your property and rent it out. The ideal target market would be my generation (m…

What's the problem with being able to sell your ADU? Wouldn't this possibly incentivize more ADU building thus supplying more housing units to the market?

> What's the problem with being able to sell your ADU?

There is nothin "wrong" or "right" about free market economics bc there is no concept of morality in free market economics. It is what it is.

But it is the clearest of signals of what is going - US standard of living has peaked and is going down.

> Wouldn't this possibly incentivize more ADU building thus supplying more housing units to the market?

Is that trend that benefits me? I do not think so, I do not want to live in a ADU nor do I want one on my property, nor do I want to live in a community that has ADUs.

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#27

Post by bugglebeetle »

username321 wrote: post #5

“While the bar for affordability is low—one 748-square-foot property included in the report sold for $610,000 in 2022—“ Sorry, the bar is LOW?

You mean you don’t want to pay 4K a month to live in a shed in someone’s backyard? Do you hate common sense, market-based solutions or something?

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#28

Post by fleventynine »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #19
sokoloff wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't this law change work to support the creation of new housing units?

I would think so. Not sure why there's so much negativity about it here.

Grumpy NIMBYs. The state's ADU laws override local zoning requirements such as minimum setbacks, allowing their neighbors to build "horrible monstrosities" that "violate the spirit of the community".

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#29

Post by eslaught »

brvsft wrote: post #21

ADUs seem like a bandaid solution for lack of housing supply in desirable areas. Not that I think they shouldn't be legal, but we're talking about paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for what amounts to a shed in someone else's backyard just because you want to live in Seattle, SF, etc. It's so bizarre, and if this solution is taken to its logical end, you literally have cities full of single-family homes with a…

We already have townhouses (that share a wall but own their own land) and condos (which share land and the building). There are also well-established legal precedents for things like easements (e.g., for access, water, sewer, see [1]).

I'm not saying this is a good idea, but is it really that different?

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easement

Re: In California, you can now sell your ADU

#30

Post by compiler-guy »

brvsft wrote: post #21

ADUs seem like a bandaid solution for lack of housing supply in desirable areas. Not that I think they shouldn't be legal, but we're talking about paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for what amounts to a shed in someone else's backyard just because you want to live in Seattle, SF, etc. It's so bizarre, and if this solution is taken to its logical end, you literally have cities full of single-family homes with a…

ADUs are one relatively small tool for providing additional supply of housing in places where it is politically hard to do so. There is no way they will solve the problem on their own, but they do help, and we need all the help we can get.

As far as being "sheds", plenty of them are quite nice and well done. Small yes, but small units are perfectly appropriate for, say retirees, or students, or many other demographics.

In a different time, they were called "Granny units". A place where someone who doesn't need much can live, and remain local to their entire support system and social network.

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