ADU’s are hot. High land costs and permitting concessions from the City of Portland have made the thought of building an Accessory Dwelling Unit popular among homeowners and want-to-be homeowners in the last couple years. Have you ever thought about building an ADU?

Over the course of our next few articles, I’ll talk about reasons most people want to build an ADU, several tips that will be helpful if you decide to take the leap and even a few things that surprise most people who start the process of designing and building an Accessory Dwelling Unit.

I’d like to start our series on Accessory Dwelling Units by asking you to consider WHY you want to build an ADU.

The Parents

The idea of downsizing is not new. Many more mature adults decide to move into a smaller home when they retire or when the kids leave home or even when they begin to travel and need a more modest home base. Sometimes those decisions are financial and sometimes they’re based on the amount of time and effort that goes into keeping up a larger home.

The emerging popularity of Accessory Dwelling Units in Portland have given downsizing homeowners a new option to consider. Whether it’s an ADU built in an adult child’s back yard that allows grandparents to be close to grandkids or a tiny house on the parent’s property to give a young-adult child a jumpstart or an ADU in the neighborhood that downsizing parents love and don’t want to leave, ‘The Parents’ is one popular reason to decide to build an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Portland, Oregon.

The Income Generator

It’s not hard to figure out. If you’ve lived in Portland long, you know land costs and housing costs are high. Designing and building an ADU to rent out on your existing property is a popular idea for homeowners who want to generate some extra income that may help cover those high costs.

When planning and designing and building an Accessory Dwelling Unit that becomes an income generator, most homeowners consider one of two types of renters: long term renters and short term renters. Keep in mind, there are important factors to consider after you’ve decided which type of renter you want to attract. Think about the different wants and needs between someone that rents an apartment and someone that rents an AirBnB or hotel room.

The Money Saver

What happens when your income changes because you’ve changed jobs or careers or you’ve retired? What happens when you have your first child or your children go off to college? Costs and mortgage payments rarely go down. That’s why some homeowners look at ADUs as money savers.

This scenario is much like the Income Generator, but opposite. Some homeowners decide to invest in designing and building an Accessory Dwelling Unit on their property so they can move into it and rent the main house. It gives them the opportunity to save money on their own living expenses while generating income on the house they used to live in.

Does one of these scenarios speak to you? Do you have parents that want to downsize? Maybe you are an adult that’s ready to downsize. Are you interested in generating some extra income on property you already own? Or, would you like to save money while generating income?

These are all common reasons homeowners in Portland, Oregon decide to build Accessory Dwelling Units on their property. It’s important to understand that each of these reasons comes with their own design challenges and opportunities. Each requires special considerations in order to make the project successful.

If any of these reasons interest you, please download our free “ADU Inspiration Book” and watch for the next couple articles where I cover helpful tips for designing and building an ADU and also things that often surprise our ADU clients.

Article 2 of 3 in this series is "5 Biggest Surprises our Clients Discover when Designing and Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in Portland, Oregon"

Article 3 of 3 in this series is up next!  Stay tuned!