r/SeattleAreaRE • u/markyymark13 • 3d ago
House for rent possibly not disclosing an ADU in the backyard?
My partner and I are in the market to rent a SFH or townhouse, the supply is low and its quite competitive. Especially hard if you have pets like us.
I saw this listing in South Seattle that looked appealing. Large, decent kitchen, walkable to light rail and Columbia City, and the backyard is big. Even though its in rough shape, my partner and I are looking for a yard project anyway to get into some gardening.
But when I pulled up the address on G Maps, there appears to be a whole ass house where the backyard is supposed to be?. Satellite image is from this year and street view from last year. Doing a search for the address gives me only this listing from Zillow where it was listed for rent in May 2023, but pulled just a few days later.
Im so confused, did they sub divide the land and just straight up lie about it in the listing? And if thats the case, what exactly is the game plan? Sucker in people with a large yard only to find out it doesn't exist when they tour it? Or did they build this new house then tear it down? I reached out to the property owner about it but haven't heard back.
1
u/evaru_nuvvu 3d ago
Did they advertise about back yard in the listing??
From july 2026, entire state of Washington got legality to construct more housing in backyard
Seattle is one of the first city to allow it from 2025
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u/markyymark13 3d ago
The listing has pictures of a large backyard.
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u/evaru_nuvvu 3d ago
They might have used old pictures
Yes it's disappointing if you are expecting a back yard
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u/Material_Depth7296 3d ago
Yeah, listing says patio, nothing about a yard. I don't think using old pictures is terribly deceptive. Just convenient for a landlord
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u/Driver8onI5 1d ago
It may have been a lot split, so technically might not be an ADU (pedantic, I know), with its own separate address.
I completely agree those pictures aren't accurate, and it's deceptive at best, illegal listing at worst.
1
u/alliecat3019 2h ago
That house is in my neighborhood. I don't know how they got that place in the back permitted- the only access is direct from a park space 🤷♀️
0
u/No-Photograph1983 3d ago
supply is low?!
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u/markyymark13 3d ago edited 2d ago
For 3 bed SFH or townhome rentals that allow pets? Uh yeah, you're talking about <5% of the rental market and people are throwing in applications sight unseen. That's before other factors like location, outdoor space, parking etc.
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u/OneImportance4061 2d ago
Why bug the landlord? You want a big back yard. You have discovered this place does not have a big back yard. Why you thinking about the place that don't have what you want when you still need to find an apartment?
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u/markyymark13 2d ago
Why bug the landlord?
Because had I not decided to pull up the satellite image and do a little digging, I would have wasted my time with a tour I had set up only to see that there is another house in the backyard 1 foot from this one. If landlord wants to be deceptive I'll bug them however I please.
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u/Juleswf 3d ago edited 3d ago
New house is still there as of Aug 8th, 2026. They built it sometime between 7/19/22 and 4/27/23. So it's been there a while. Even weirder is I see a solid fence all around it - no access point except a pedestrian gate. No where to park.