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How to Build a Guest House
- Go to your local building department and see what they require for your area when building a guest home and what restrictions they may have. Note* You may only be able to build a guest house that is 30% as big as the main home. So if your main home is 1000 sq ft, you would only be allowed to build a 300 sq ft. guest house. Other things are you are not allowed is a separate electric meter on a guest house , the electric needs to run off the main house, and you are not allowed a full sizes sink only a single bar style sink.
- Fees- That you may incur are, school fees, these range in every area from $2.00 a sq ft to $8.00 a sq ft depending on the area you live in and these fees are paid directly to the school district in the area you are building the home. There are also park fees, these can range from $1500- $5000 , Transportation fees can be $8,000 or more per home, permit fees and building fees vary from city to county. Then you also have the plan check fees, and the money you paid to have the plans drawn, usually plans are $3500 -$5000 as well as the trust calcs and energy calcs. Plan on spending a mini of $30,000. before you even start building.
- Environmental Health will need to sign off on your plans and they will check if you are on septic or sewer. If you are on septic you will need to be sure your septic system is big enough for another bedroom. Otherwise you can be looking at a new septic system.
- Plans- Get plans that are simple and not complex that way you will save on building costs. You can have someone draft these plans for around $3500.00
- Building- Once you get your permits and you are ready to go, you can hire sub contractors, be sure they are licensed and bonded and be sure you have notified the city or county you are an owner builder, that's how I saved money and if you are handy you can do a lot of the work yourself saving even more. Once each trade is completed, you need to call the building department and the building inspector will come inspect each trade and sign off on it.
- Manufactured Homes- these can be good for a fast home but you still need to go through the building and permit process and its just my personal opinion that your resale value will not be as good when you go to resale the home if you use a manufactured home. But they do serve a purpose.
- Grading fees- hopefully the land you are building on is level as grading fees can get to be expensive and depending how much grading you are doing you may need a grading plan.
- Fire Department- The fire department will need to check and approve the area to be sure they can have access to get the fire truck close to the property and have room to turnaround the fire truck, they may also require fire sprinklers in your home if you are in a rural area. They also need the road to be a minimum width as well. They too, charge a fee for their services.
- Zoning- Check with your local zoning dept for what your land is zoned for , they may have certain restrictions as what can and cannot do to the property.
- Temporary Housing - Some counties will allow a small manufactured home on the property for a disabled or senior person needing medical care but will need documentation from a medical professional to allow one and it will need to be removed once that person is no longer living there.
- Hope this has helped!! If you need any other help or have more questions feel free to reach out to Maryzullo1@gmail.com or www.maryandash.com have a great day!! We love Real Estate , please feel free to share this post to any of your friends and family . We are always here to help in anyway we can!! By the way, the home in the picture is a guest house I built my mother :)
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