Over the last few years, there have been significant innovations in terms of ADU financing and more experimentation occurring with enabling ADUs to help address the Affordable housing crisis.  One of my jobs is doing consulting work on various ADU policies issues. Recently, I got to dig into a topic that has piqued my interest: Mission-Driven Affordable ADU Programs. This 28-page report is a product of that research. Download the Mission-Driven Affordable ADU Program Report I’m well aware that many jurisdictions and organizations wish for ADUs to address Affordable housing challenges that ..read more

The further you can see, the better Creating long site lines from one corner of the space to another–and ideally out through a window–gives the sensation of being in a large space. It make a living space feel less cramped and claustrophobic. Establishing where you’ll place windows strategically is key to creating long site lines ..read more

In cold weather environments, it's all about getting plenty of good insulation into the roof, which is where the majority of heat escapes a structure. That's why you're well served by having wide ceiling joists. See what that means right there.   ..read more

Over the holidays, I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of weeks in the East Bay area of California. The East Bay area, primarily Oakland and Berkeley, is overflowing with current ADU activity that makes it a place with fascinating sites, organizations and people who can help interpret what I am seeing.  So, here’s a brief sketch of the people I met and the things I saw and learned from my winter work-cation.  My first day trip involved a guided tour of some mobile dwelling encampments in Oakland by Adam Garret Clark, who is involved personally and professionally in this movement ..read more

California's ADU numbers have increased 11-fold from 2017-2019 As California goes, so goes the nation. Well, if that’s the case, the nation may soon see a LOT of ADUs. The growth of ADUs in California has been remarkable since 2017 due largely to state legislative changes. And, their popularity there is likely only just beginning. This post shows the first, granular, city-by-city, annual chart depiction of ADU permit trends in California. In California at large, the permit numbers increased from 1,269 ADU permits in 2016, to 4,974 in 2017, to 8,900 permits in 2018, to 14,702 in 2019 ..read more

A Recession-Proof Investment 2010 was the zenith of the Great Recession in Portland. The real estate market had shuttered in many areas of the country around that time. While Portland was buffered from the worst of this crash, it was still a jarring time for many residents who had lost considerable value in their most significant financial asset.   What sticks out to me, when considering the growth of ADUs in Portland, is that the residential real estate market for homes was receding rather dramatically in 2010 with no predictable bottom in sight. Nonetheless, it was 2010 is when ADU ..read more

Author’s note: (12/20/2019) This article was prescient on predicting the imminent birth of mobile ADUs. The week after publishing this post, the nation’s second largest city, the City of Los Angeles, passed an ADU code that allows for mobile ADUs. The code went into effect on December 19th, 2019. You can read L.A.’s new ADU ordinance here. This post offers a first-hand inquiry into the relative ease, flexibility, and affordability of mobile ADUs over all other housing forms allowed in residential zones, including conventional ADUs.  In a recent property endeavor, I installed infrastruc ..read more

Back in June, 2017, Los Angeles burst onto the ADU scene a record-breaking number of ADUs in the first quarter of that year. It was the beginning of an explosion of ADUs in Los Angeles, and one that foreshadows the next era of ADU development in America. Note: 2019 is projected based on the current permits issued so far this year (Oct, 2019) There are now more than 12,000 ADU permits issued by the City of Los Angeles total. This is an astonishingly large number of ADU permits, relative to all other jurisdictions not just nationally, but globally. Of course, L.A. is the 2nd largest US City wit ..read more

This is Part III of ADUs from an Investor's Perspective. You can find Part I and Part II here. This is a complicated topic and it seems that there isn’t one right answer. In the first two posts, I’ve interviewed one investor’s perspective on whether ADUs are a good investment. This third installment is written by an investor who builds and holds ADUs on some of his residential properties. Arthur Donaghey is a real estate investor, general contractor and landlord in Portland, Oregon. He has built and manages four ADUs. All of them generate positive cash flow every month. Here’s Arthur’s take on ..read more

ADU landscaping is a fairly new area of landscape design specialization. Visiting hundreds of ADUs over the last decade, I’ve observed that site landscaping hasn’t lived up to its potential. I know that for my own ADU projects, landscaping has taken a back seat to all other ADU design considerations. Developing an ADU is already a huge undertaking. Why would you also want to consider overhauling the property’s landscape at the same time? Perhaps the inattention to landscaping is due to lack of a landscaping budget, or perhaps it’s a simple oversight on the part of the homeowner or designer. &n ..read more