Our mission is to help homeowners build homes and build communities with ADUs and other laws (like SB 9!)
Read the new guidance about the state-wide ADU laws in California.
The HCD released a handbook in September 2020 that clarifies how ADU regulations interact at a local and state level, and how different parts of the Accessory Dwelling Unit laws are supposed to be interpreted at the city and county level.
Read this article or watch the accompanying youtube video with my key takeaways about California’s ADU Laws
Read MoreImproving the housing availability in California is more important than ever. And despite all the setbacks and challenges in 2020, thousands of homeowners are rising to the occasion and building their ADUs.
This post goes over some of the newest programs to launch to help ADU development and adoption around the state, and it goes into some of the big milestones we’re crossing.
Read MoreThese blogs are written from the perspective of real homeowners who actually built Accessory Dwelling Units (or are trying to build one!)
I love linking to good objective educational resources about Accessory Dwelling Units, and the truth is that some of our favorite content comes directly from homeowners who have tried building their own ADUs.
Read MoreThis is a short update about an incredible program the city of Napa offers to promote the permitting and completion of Junior Accessory Dwelling Units.
It’s called the Junior Unit Initiative and allows homeowners to access below-market, forgivable financing of up to $50,000 to create junior units.
Unfortunately, this program may or may not be funded in the future.
There is a plan to fund it…
Read MoreWorking on a floor plan is an integral early step toward getting an Accessory Dwelling Unit.
Whether you’re building a detached or attached ADU, or just converting a part of your existing home, you will need plans (and even completely prebuilt modular units have plans!)
Read MoreJunior Accessory Dwelling Units are a great tool for homeowners who are trying to convert part of their residence into an independent dwelling unit.
But…
Junior Accessory Dwelling Units have some significant limitations, one of which is an owner occupancy requirement.
Read MoreJunior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) are small living units (less than 500 square feet in size) like a studio apartment or efficiency, that exist within a single family residence.
In other words, JADUs are a powerful tool if you’re thinking about converting a room of your house into a potential rental unit for extra income, or to house a family member.
Read MoreIf you're researching how much it costs to build an ADU, then you can use the 3 simple techniques in this article to get a ballpark “all in” construction cost.
It’s hard to know precisely how much it will cost to build your Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) because there are a lot of variables, and many costs will be unique to your property. That said, roughly estimating how much a typical project costs is much easier.
Read MoreAlmost everybody asks me where to start their ADU. You have to draw up floor plans, fill out paper work for permits, get financing, and make about 1000 decisions - so it’s hard to know where to start.
When Kol Peterson, author of the definitive guide to building an ADU, got the question… his answer was clear.
Read MoreBasement ADUs are very exciting because they’re one of the most affordable ways to get an accessory dwelling unit on your property.
And ADUs are a powerful investment, you can start to generate passive rental income, or develop some housing security for yourself.
In many homes, you’ll also be adding to the square footage of the property because you’re converting basement square footage that doesn’t count as living space into legal, living space.
Read MoreWhat is an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) according to the law in California?
Let’s break it down into a very simple legal definition, and explain how it will dramatically change your cost of living over the next 10 years.
Read MoreCan neighbors complain about your ADU?
We get this question a lot from Californians trying to build an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). And even once construction is done, owners want to know if neighbors can complain about it being rented out.
Read MoreIf you're building an ADU in California, you need to know your rights. It used to be complicated, but a suite of laws that went into effect in January 2020 have simplified the requirements across the whole state. There are still lots of restrictions and places to get tripped up, but it’s much more straightforward and build-friendly than it was before!
Read MoreCalifornia’s sheltering in place this week, so we took the opportunity to start offering virtual Q&A sessions for our subscribers. Running this website and speaking to hundreds of people building ADUs in California taught me one thing very quickly. Every project is unique, and everybody is at a different step in the process with its own questions and challenges. That’s why we were very excited to get two experts from BuildZig come in and speak to our subscribers about their specific questions.
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