Permit/code for adding on in Richardson, Plano, Carrollton (Dallas: fit in, lease)

[MadPancakes]

I know this will vary by city and I will do diligent research when we're ready to renovate, but wondering if some of you have some easy answers for me. We'd like to buy a house that we can adapt to include a MIL apt in the future - this would be roughly 500sf with a bathroom and kitchenette and separate entrance. Nothing fancy. (We know we may have to remove kitchenette before reselling.) Ideally we could find a home with adequate SF and just move around some interior walls/doors, run plumbing and electric to do this. But if we need to add a room (whether that's upstairs or an addition off the back), are we going to run in to a lot of trouble from the city to do this? Assuming we have a 10,000 sf lot with a big enough back yard to accommodate and no HOAs to worry about. We're looking at houses 2000-3000sf (3000 would accommodate everyone; 2000 would require a little addition) in the 275-350 price range. In my (very limited) experience, there are limits to how far you can build in front, towards the street, but less stringent laws about building in back. Does this hold true in the Dallas metro?

[WorldKlas]

You can go to websites for each city and find out code restrictions as far as additions. Its always easier if you don’t make changes to the footprint of a house so, knowing you want this type of arrangement, you should try to limit your search to places with a floorplan you can adapt to this need.

There should be, in all the areas you are interested in, custom houses built in the 70’s that had really large game rooms with wetbars. Back then they were typically on the first floor. Having a wetbar means plumbing goes to the area. We looked at scores of houses at that time with that kind of floorplan. All those homes had alley driveways and wood roofs! The advantage of an alley driveway is you could take space the garage, too, without it changing the street presentation of the home. If necessary also put a carport cover over the driveway. By now the wood roofs would be gone.....

[MadPancakes]

I've been wondering about wet bars! I thought it must be a Dallas area thing - they are so popular! Yes, ideally we will find a house from the 70s that we can remodel ourselves (not flipped) and fit in the apt. I'd hate to lose the garage though. I've found a few that may work, it's just getting the size of the house we need + a school that's adequate in our budget and commute. Ah, the age old question: which one to sacrifice?!

[WorldKlas]

One of my tenants had an adult daughter and wanted to put a tiny house in the backyard at a home she leased from us in Irving. She checked it out and it was actually permitted. I think the tiny house would have cost about $40K. We never made a decsion about giving her approval because she bought the house from us; DK if they ever did it.

https://indigorivertinyhomes.com/bungalow-on-foundation

Looks like Richarson allows tiny house that meet visual codes. https://www.cor.net/departments/buil...ssory-building

[MadPancakes]

Thanks - I like this idea if we can't fit something inside the house. She was looking at DIY kits on Amazon too, but these look at little more...polished I like the kind that's not on a solid foundation - it could be moved. Thanks for the link to Richardson's codes.

[ChristieP]

Do NOT convert the garage. That will absolutely kill your resale value, since most buyers want a garage, and many HOAs forbid it. Also, cities hardly ever allow carports. They are dangerous in a windstorm since they are easily ripped off by high winds.

[MadPancakes]

We will NOT convert the garage! We really just want to convert two bedrooms. It would be so easy to convert a "master suite" except it's ridiculous to have a 200 sf bathroom with two vanities/sinks, a shower and a whirlpool tub all for one person, and silly to rip half of that out for a kitchen. Luckily some houses have two masters or at least a full bed and bath separate from the master. Thanks for the heads up about carports- I didn't realize they weren't allowed - I've seen so many!

[Threestep2]

Take a jack and jill and convert one side into living room kitchenette. By the time you add onto a house you may as well get one large enough. Have you looked into costs not to mention getting contractors for a small job? The shed sounds good but will you get a permit for a second residence and utilities?

[TeamLynn]

I would talk to the building department in each city as to how they feel about this.
Often "multi-family" is not allowed in single family neighborhoods. Lots of people would like to do this, but many cities frown on it or prohibit it.
Normally the departments are very friendly about telling you what is allowed and not allowed.

Adding a second entrance probably allowed in most places is my guess. Adding a kitchenette or extra laundry room........hmmmm....maybe not.

[TeamLynn]

Thinking along those lines, maybe buying a full duplex would work for you. That's not unusual around these cities. Then you're all legal. You don't have to convert anything, and you are good for an exit strategy.