Perspective: How to make accessory dwelling units affordable
ADU financing could — and perhaps should — be a lot more like commercial real estate financing, only with a human touch. A guest post by Roger A. Gins.
ADU Development Costs Keep Going Up
I’ve updated an extensive post about ADU development costs here. These updates are based new cost numbers that just came in from the upcoming 2019 ADU Tour in Portland, which serves as a repository of current and active primary source data for cost estimates. It turns out that current primary source data is critical when it comes to talking about the costs of ADUs, because the development cost numbers here keep escalating rapidly.
2019 is the Year of ADU Financing Innovation
Financing ADUs has remained a major challenge. But, in the future, 2019 will always be thought of as the year of ADU financing innovation. On April 29th, Portland State University convened a meeting in Washington, D.C to help flesh out some of the innovative programs that are being developed to finance ADUs.
New ADU Financing Option with No Monthly Payments
One provider of ADU financing describes their service.
ADU Rental Income Can Be Used to Qualify Borrowers to Purchase on HomeReady Loans
A HomeReady Mortgage is a Fannie Mae, first-time home buyer loan program, with minimum down payment requirements, and some very particular underwriting characteristics. When a borrower is purchasing a single-unit primary residence with a 3% minimum down payment and there is an ADU present, 75% of the potential rents from the ADU can be used to qualify.
Garden Suites in Edmonton: a private investment in the public good
New research from Canada finds that ADUs and garden suites can function as voluntary version of affordable housing — with some important caveats.
The Second Coming of Detached ADUs in Portland
Readers of this series may have noticed a positive tone change in the dire title of the series. That’s because yesterday, the Oregon Department of Revenue issued a draft rule that steers Multnomah County away from the misguided interpretation that they’d used this year–the interpretation that had caused detached ADUs to trigger a property reassessment– the interpretation which has caused a dramatic ADU development chilling effect in Portland in the last 6 months.
The Death of Detached ADUs in Portland and What To Do About (Part II)
(This is Part II of The Death of Detached ADUs in Portland and What To Do About It. Part I, Part III, Part IV, and Part V are also available.) Action Items … Continue reading
Lay Explanation of Conventional ADU Financing Options
Financing is, by far, the biggest barrier for most homeowners seeking to build an ADU on their property. Recently, I was trying to gain some clarification about three conventional loan products that can be used to help fund the construction of an ADU: First Mortgage Cash Out Refinance- taking out extra money when refinancing your ‘first mortgage’ .
Guide to financing an accessory dwelling unit
Here is nicely formatted summary to the ways ADUs are being financed in Portland today. Even if you don’t live in the area, it should provide some ideas and precedents you can use. Enjoy!
ADUs and Condos: Separating Ownership
Q. How is it that the accessory dwelling unit pictured below is being sold separately from the primary home on the same lot? A. It’s legally structured as a condominium. … Continue reading
Value it Green Tour Features ADUs
Join other REALTORs, appraisers and lenders visiting green homes and ADUs across Portland. Have fun with your peers while you’re escorted by experts on buses to and from the … Continue reading
How do ADUs contribute to the local economy? (Or, will building an ADU raise my property taxes?)
Will building an ADU raise your property taxes? Very likely yes. Is that a good thing for the community?
How do ADUs affect property values?
Opponents of ADUs frequently charge they will bring down property values for the whole neighborhood. What is the evidence?
How much do ADUs cost to build?
Some survey results about ADU costs… and some thoughts about why ADU developers aren’t usually real estate “pros.”
A Practitioner’s Guide to Appraising ADUs
Appraisals for ADUs have always been tricky. Here is a new guide to help appraisers, real estate agents, and finance professionals understand current “best practices” for appraising ADUs.
Stradivarius violins and cigar box guitars (Making sense of ADU construction costs)
An experienced developer explains why ADUs have such a wide range of costs, and how to estimate costs for your own project.
Renovation loan: a new way to finance ADU construction
Financing your ADU has become easier. I am sure that when someone mentions financing, or budgeting, or anything to do with numbers for a project there is a slight shudder … Continue reading
Breaking Bad is over. It’s Time to Break Even.
Cooking meth is apparently one way to make money fast. But, for many of us, this option is far less appealing now that we’ve finished watching Breaking Bad. After the … Continue reading
Finally, A Loan Product That Works for Constructing ADUs
In most markets, financing the construction of ADU’s is notoriously difficult. When constructing an ADU, you need to have all the cash upfront to pay a contractor for the cost … Continue reading
Portland extends waiver of SDCs on Accessory Dwelling Units
(Editors note- for the most recent SDC waiver information, read this post. 4/2016) Great News! This afternoon, Portland’s City Council voted unanimously to extend the waiver of Systems Development Charges … Continue reading
Appraisal Journal on ADUs: they could be worth more than you think
Today the Appraisal Journal publishes a research paper about residential properties with accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The paper describes an income-based method for appraising properties with ADUs, and concludes that … Continue reading
The many and confusing synonyms for ADUs
A quick note about language here. One reason people get so confused, and perhaps heated, about accessory dwellings is that language about them is confused. The different names conjure up … Continue reading
Refinancing an ADU – a mortgage broker’s perspective
As a mortgage broker in the Portland area for almost 8 years, I’ve learned “the harder I work, the luckier I get” is really true. In this instance hard work … Continue reading
A research and action agenda for Accessory Dwelling Units and their advocates
I spent a lot of 2011 learning about Accessory Dwelling Units (also known as in-law units, granny flats, backyard cottages, etc). Beat that in terms of geekiness! (Okay, I bow … Continue reading
New Energy Performance Incentive Available for New ADUs
In a post on my personal ADU blog, I described an awesome building incentive that was made available for my ADU from the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO). My ADU … Continue reading
Appraising properties with accessory dwelling units: a preview of new methods and findings
[update Nov. 2012: the paper, including updated results, is out in Appraisal Journal… click here] This year I’ve been working with appraiser Taylor Watkins of problem of appraising properties with … Continue reading
Notes from a presentation on appraising ADUs
[Kol Peterson attended Martin Brown and Taylor Watkin’s presentation on appraising ADUs and came away with these notes about how appraisal issues affect homeowners. For Martin’s summary of the event, … Continue reading
How appraisals and “GSEs” make financing an ADU challenging
(Update January 2013: please note that the research on which the following piece was based has now been published in Appraisal Journal. Please read the full text of that article … Continue reading
Accessory Dwellings 
You must be logged in to post a comment.