Guest House in Backyard

South Bay
1

There was a post talking about building guest houses in backyard? I just found one in my old neighborhood in Evergreen San Jose.

https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/2908-Woods-Ct-95148/home/843632

The guest house is 300ft, and their lot is more than 7k feet. This house would have sold for 820 or 830K because c’mon, it looks pretty crappy inside. So that 300 ft guest house may have added 50k in value.

Can’t see if they have plumbing inside the guest house. My guess is not. How much would it cost to build the guest house? More than 50k i think?

2

I guess people like the in-law units because it provides privacy.
What good would the addition be if there is no plumbing?

I went to check out what low end in PA is like and they converted the garage in the back to a guest house with a full bath.

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Palo-Alto/1352-Emerson-St-94301/home/1706772

3

and low end in PA is how much?? :money_mouth:

4

Mountain View is planning on dramatically loosening the lot size requirements for building a “companion unit” (max 700 sq ft + 1 car garage):

http://www.mv-voice.com/print/story/2016/06/10/a-magic-bullet-for-the-housing-crisis

We would be eligible to build one but I don’t think we will. It was a charming idea at one point but I don’t want any openings for the in-laws to move in. Our neighbor’s house has an attached but separate living unit that they rented out for $2,000/month. But it had large windows opening to the backyard so didn’t seem like it afforded much privacy for the main house users in the backyard.

5

When I first landed in the Bay Area for work back in 2001 (yeah I am old), I rented a cottage in the backyard of an old house in downtown San Jose. It was really private. There is a backroad reaching the cottage so I don’t even need to pass the main house. It’d be the ideal setup.