FAQ

1. 1. 1. 1. Increased Property Value: Creating another legal parcel means you are creating a brand new real estate asset. This asset can be sold/developed/mortgaged separately. It is a reliable way to generate additional value, making it a highly attractive investment opportunity.
         2. Increased development potential: Two homes are allowed on each property (four in total). You are not limited to a small ADU, but can actually build full-sized homes (depending on your FAR, vacant space, etc.) Setbacks (side and rear) are reduced to 4 feet.
      • Flexibility: You will own two separate legal parcels, which you can treat independently. You can develop or sell them at differing times, depending on your financial needs or you can hold both valuable assets for a retirement nest egg.
      • Financial Opportunities: With the additional legal lot and development potential, you can consider passive rental income from a new property or selling the newly created lot.
      • Access more cash: By creating another legal parcel, you can get a separate mortgage loan and construction loan. If you were to build without splitting, you would not be able to get these.

1. 1. 1. 1. Increased Property Value: Creating another legal parcel means you are creating a brand new real estate asset. This asset can be sold/developed/mortgaged separately. It is a reliable way to generate additional value, making it a highly attractive investment opportunity.
         2. Increased development potential: Two homes are allowed on each property (four in total). You are not limited to a small ADU, but can actually build full-sized homes (depending on your FAR, vacant space, etc.) Setbacks (side and rear) are reduced to 4 feet.
      • Flexibility: You will own two separate legal parcels, which you can treat independently. You can develop or sell them at differing times, depending on your financial needs or you can hold both valuable assets for a retirement nest egg.
      • Financial Opportunities: With the additional legal lot and development potential, you can consider passive rental income from a new property or selling the newly created lot.
      • Access more cash: By creating another legal parcel, you can get a separate mortgage loan and construction loan. If you were to build without splitting, you would not be able to get these.

Our firm takes care of the entire lot split process, from start to finish. We do all the leg work and all we will ask of you is a few signatures for the application docs.

PHASE 1: Tentative Parcel Map (TPM) Approval Process

• Complete eligibility assessment
• Prepare affidavit and city/county application documents
• Order and pay for title guarantee
• Prepare documentation to demonstrate eligibility (Proof of qualifications: wetlands, fire, zoning, fault zone, etc.)
• Determine jurisdiction TPM/FPM submittal requirements and fees
• Consult with client to get lot layout approved
• Prepare TPM; Submit application, documentation and TPM to planning department
• Pay city/county fees
• Complete project management, oversight and expediting (3-8 months, or until approved)
• Coordinate and pay for Biological assessment and report*
• Coordinate Wetland assessment and report*
• Review incompleteness items & re-submit as necessary
• Provide Clients with monthly status updates from beginning to end of project.

PHASE 2: Final Parcel Map (FPM) Approval Process

• Complete Topographic survey
• Complete Boundary survey
• Outline certificate sheet & order reference documents
• Prepare FPM and application
• Submit FPM to planning department
• Pay fees to the city/county
• Complete project management, oversight and expediting (3-6 months, or until approved)
• Obtain will serve letters from utility companies
• Prepare drainage plan and erosion control plan*
• Prepare improvement plan*
• Obtain tax clearance figures
• Pay tax collector fee
• Prepare easement agreements and legal descriptions*
• Order Parcel Map Guarantee
• Order mylar, get notarized client signatures, submit FPM for city/county signatures
• Prompt client to pay property taxes (based on tax assessor figures)
• Coordinate with title company to record parcel map
• Pay Title Guarantee Fee
• Pay Recording Fee
• Record final map with County

Client requirements are very minimal. We take care of every process so that our client needs to do as little as possible.

Client involvement includes: sign application documents, notarize affidavit and approve parcel line we draw up. At the end of the project, you will sign the final parcel map, pay your upcoming property taxes, and pay the final fee to our firm. From start to finish, this process will only take 3 hours or less of your time in total.

Your lot split is 100% guaranteed when you work with us. If we are unsuccessful in creating your second parcel for any reason, you will not owe us the final fee, including the time or costs incurred on your project. It is that simple: no fine print, no hidden fees. We want to make this process a “no brainer” for our clients, so we’ve taken all the risk out of it for you.

The lot split price varies project to project as well as by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction has different requirements, application fees and planning department fees. Each project has a differing level of complexity and risk. Our lot split projects vary from $45,000-74,000, depending on city/county fees and requirements and project complexity.

We understand that this is a significant investment, and therefore we have payment plan options and even loan options for those who could benefit from that option.

Additionally, if you’d like to make money on the project by selling your newly created parcel, let us know. We may be able to put you in touch with an interested buyer.

That is absolutely possible. It is an easy and simple process to re-merge the parcels. If you ever wanted to re-merge the parcels for some reason, our firm could help you with that.

Your lender will continue to hold a deed of trust over your entire property, in other words over both parcels. But since we are not diminishing value of this underlying asset, the lender will not be affected by the creation of the second parcel.  They do not have to approve the lot split.  They will not even be notified.  It is only when you sell one of the parcels that you will have to renegotiate the loan and modify the deed of trust.  The lender will then evaluate if they still have adequate ‘loan to value’ ratio on the parcel which they will hold the new deed of trust on.

No, creating your two legal parcels does not require an architect.  If you choose to build on the new lot, that is when you would hire an architect. We will contact your utility companies and request “can and will serve letters” for your new parcel, however our company does not pay for the installation of new utility services.

When you create a new parcel, the planning department will want you to have separate utilities for each parcel. However if one of your parcels is vacant, you will most likely not need to install the additional utilities until you apply for a building permit.

When you’re ready to develop, your designer / architect will prepare a site plan showing the utility connections. Then during the time that you process your building permit application you would approach PG&E and request a new service connection. You would request the city water department for a new water connection and if you are on city sewer you would request a new sewer connection. The same goes for cable and TV.

To provide some perspective, SB-9 is a very new law and most engineering firms have completed very few if any successful SB-9 lot split projects. Riechers Engineering has been studying and specializing in SB-9 before the legislature was signed into law. We are California’s experts in SB9 lot splits. SB9 lot splits is our niche- we do not accept any other engineering work. We have more SB9 applications and approvals in the state than any other engineering firm.

We have found that many local jurisdictions are quick to oppose SB-9 applications, interpreting the legislature to their advantage. Because of our detailed understanding of the SB-9 legislation, we are able to overturn denials which are based on incorrect interpretations of the law. Other engineering/architecture firms are mostly unaware of the common pitfalls that occur when working with this new law. 

Furthermore, we have not encountered another engineering firm that is willing to guarantee the SB9 lot split and also will not require a deposit or up-front payment. If you hire another engineer to perform the lot split, you will most likely be paying all costs listed above out of pocket and will be taking the risk of getting approval for the lot split.  Remember that we do not charge you anything if we fail to get a parcel map recorded. Because we guarantee the lot split, we have all incentive to ensure your project is approved and completed as quickly as possible. We also have raving clientele, who have been overjoyed with the ease and success of working with us.

The SB9 state law requires that you sign an affidavit stating that you intend to have your property as your primary residence for the next three years. The affidavit simply documents your current intention. Following recording of the parcel map, which creates the additional parcel there is no requirement or commitment by you to stay on the property. You can change your mind. You also have the right to sell the vacant parcel the day we record the parcel map.

In certain jurisdictions, tenants can sign as the applicant. But sometimes, they require the owner to be the applicant and renters are not allowed to sign the affidavit. In this case, there are several other options that we have encountered:

• You can name the current renter or potential future owner as the potential occupant in your affidavit by including them as a member in your LLC.
• You can work with the current renter and form a new LLC to be a co-member for SB9 split and affidavit ownership.
• You can sell 1% interest of your property to someone who you’d want to live there (it could be your existing tenants), then they could sign the affidavit and you could proceed with the lot split. You could create an agreement so that after the lot split, you would regain full ownership of the property.

There is none. With California’s new state law, SB-9, zoning requirements and minimum lot size no longer apply. There is no property too small to take advantage of SB-9. The only size requirement is when you do the lot split, the split of the property must be between 50/50 and 40/60. In other words, the smaller of the two lots must be at least 40% of the original property area.

No. There is no requirement for open space. Some of our projects are properties with two houses on the property – they want to split it so that each house is on its own parcel. Or you can split your parcel so that there’s a house on one parcel and vacant land on the other.

That is not possible. The county/city won’t approve a lot split that creates an unbuildable parcel.

Property taxes consist of 3 components: land value (sq ft), improvements (essentially, the house), and the “per parcel tax” (mosquito district, drainage district, etc.)

When you do the lot split, your land value tax will stay the same, but be split onto two separate tax bills. Your improvement tax stays the same and will continue to be taxed on the parcel which has the house on it. The only property tax component that will change with the lot split is the “per parcel tax”. You will pay an extra per parcel tax (~$300 – $2,000 per year), which is minimal compared to the value you are creating.

Your land value (affecting your property taxes) does not get re-evaluated until you decide to sell one of your parcels. Once you sell one of your parcels, your property taxes will actually decrease since you are reducing the amount of square footage that you own.

Anytime that we apply for approval to the jurisdiction there is some risk of denial. We are incentivized to only take on projects that have a high approval rate since our firm takes on 100% of the risk of each project. Since SB9 is a ministerial state law, the city will have a very hard time not approving the SB9 urban lot split application. That being said, even though this process is supposed to be ministerial and not involving discretionary decisions by the city, sometimes we get an official who wants to demonstrate their power and create unlawful rules. While we are guaranteeing that you will not pay anything for the process if we fail to get approval, we cannot guarantee the action of the city.

Typically, you can expect about a 60% net increase in the value of your property after the lot split (this is taking into account the cost of the lot split). In addition, my company will do all the leg work for your lot split, we pay all the fees and costs up front and there’s absolutely zero risk to you: you only pay us at the end if and when we are successful with creating your valuable second parcel. If you want to get a more specific idea of what your new parcel will be worth, we recommend asking a local realtor to evaluate your property.

SB 9 should not affect a property’s Prop 13 status, but it will reset when a lot is sold.

If your ADU (accessory dwelling unit) remains on the second, newly created parcel, as the only residence, it will become considered a primary dwelling (no longer an “accessory dwelling”). There is no issue in this and will not pose any added challenges. However, if you have just a garage, barn or pool on the new parcel, without any primary residence, this will in most instances not be allowed by the city/county. There needs to be a primary dwelling for there to be accessory structures. This can be mitigated by a) demolishing the structure, b) adding very basic “dwelling” amenities, such as a toilet, hot plate and sink into an existing garage or c) constructing a primary residence on the new parcel.

Two new APNs are issued, but it might take a couple of months to get them.

It depends:
If it’s a rental, you cannot demolish or alter the rental home during the lot split process. As soon as the map is recorded and Lot Split is complete, you will most likely be able to demolish, but you would want to double check with your planning department and there’s specific rules around rental properties.

If it is not a rental, and the city allows vacant parcels to be subdivided with SB9, you will be able to demolish as part of the SB-9 lot split, so long as you submit a building permit concurrently with the lot split. If you need help determining whether the jurisdiction allows for SB-9 on vacant parcels, we are happy to help you with this research.

YES! Here are just a few testimonials from our happy clients:

Nancy DeMarino:

We are very happy with our lot split.  It is a project that we wanted to do for a long time but didn’t know how to proceed.   Fortunately, we received a letter from Riechers Engineering offering this service.   So much work and so many details involved in a lot split, and your father and you handled everything perfectly, always professional and always available to answer our questions.   Really, I don’t have any suggestions on how anything could have been better — the entire experience was painless for us. 

Jerry & Patty Kinder:

We enjoyed working with your firm. It was through a friend who also worked with Peter that we were introduced. When he came to our property to introduce us to the potential lot split, he took time to answer the questions we had.

Throughout the time working with Peter, he was knowledgeable, professional, polite, and ready to answer our questions. Whenever we reached out with questions he made himself available quickly and efficiently.

He knew how to work with the city and the experts needed to complete our lot split. When there were options of who he worked with, he chose quality individuals who knew how to get the job done with excellence. He guided the entire process including the city, the surveyor and others whom he hired on our behalf for the particular requirements, and he guided us as to our part. He is the one who made it all happen.

C.L.

We had the privilege of working with Peter Riechers of Richers Engineering on a lot split this past year. He was professional and polite from the first visit during which he expertly assessed the possibility of a lot split that would serve our goals. Then and in all subsequent dealings with him, he was efficient in his work and in answering our questions. He was friendly and he completed the lot split with speed, dealing quickly and appropriately with all city requirements. His knowledge was exceptionally apropos for the job at hand. We were grateful that this project was in excellent hands. 

Cynthia Mansur:

It’s been great working with you and your team throughout this process, and we greatly appreciate your sending us a letter about the possibility of a lot, which we were unaware of, and your company’s expertise in handling all the complexities of a lot split.

Don Schreuder, Engineer and Homeowner:

I enthusiastically recommend Riechers Engineering for any projects that involve knowledge of property law, interaction with multiple government agencies and several supporting consultants. They recently completed a lot split for our property under California’s new SB-9 legislation. This is a complicated process, and one I wouldn’t have wanted to try doing myself. They navigated the myriad regulatory and technical obstacles, completing the job on time and on budget.

Oscar de la Roche and Leslie Rygh

Riechers Engineering handled our Urban Lot Split in Napa.  Peter Riechers and his associates communicated with the City of Napa to assure that each of the many technical and legal requirements were precisely met. We were kept abreast of the project’s progress and given clear explanations of the steps.  Our convenience was considered when documents were notarized and when the property was surveyed.  We very much appreciated Peter’s personally delivering the new parcel map.  Without hesitation, we recommend Riechers Engineering.

Ali Pourheidari:

My name is AL, I have lived in Lafayette CA and I wanted to Subdivide my property. I find out that Riechers Engineering company

Accept my project, pay for all the fees, expenses and grantees to Subdivide my property or I pay nothing  to them.

MY project is now approved, Finalized, recorded at contra costa county on August 14, 24. Now I have a new Parcel which I could  either Sale or Build. I strongly recommend their offer to Subdivide your Property or you pay nothing.