ADU (Accessory Dwelling Units) is an independent living space attached to the main residence. It can flexibly utilize idle areas and bring considerable rental income. With the advantage of low-cost renovation, it is becoming a new outlet for homeowners to increase their income. Want to tap the profit potential of ADU?
This article focuses on practical ADU ideas, covering design types, planning and other key points. Help homeowners create high-return rental units.
Understand Your Goals and Local Regulations
If you want to rent out your ADU for profit, you don’t need fancy ADU ideas. You just need to be clear about your target customer and make sure you don’t run afoul of local laws.
Know Who Your Customers Are
Before building an ADU, accurately identify the target customer group and clarify the purpose of construction. After all, there are significant differences between long-term and short-term rental models in terms of space layout, functional configuration, budget planning and operation model.
Under the long-term rental model, a stable tenant group helps to reduce the vacancy period caused by frequent rental. The long-term rental model pays more attention to the stability and practicality of tenants' long-term residence. Such tenants hope that the living space can meet their daily needs. Therefore, when designing, it is necessary to reasonably divide the functional areas, set up sufficient storage space, and equip independent and fully functional kitchens and bathrooms.
Prefab guest house is a good choice. This type of prefabricated building has enough space and can be installed with independent and fully functional living facilities. Most importantly, its construction cost is low and its service life is long.
The short-term rental model is mainly aimed at attracting tourists or business people who stay for a short period. Aesthetics and unique experience have become the core of its competition. Referring to the popular listings on Airbnb, a world-renowned short-term rental platform, those houses with novel designs and unique decoration styles tend to receive higher attention and occupancy rates.
The dome house is particularly eye-catching, with its unique spherical appearance that is different from traditional linear buildings. The prefabricated structure adopts modular production and assembly to help homeowners quickly put ADUs on the market and seize the traffic dividend of the short-term rental market.
Ensure Legal Construction
Before building an ADU, owners should thoroughly understand and strictly abide by local policies and regulations to avoid subsequent disputes. Different regions have different regulations on ADUs.
Clarify the maximum area allowed for construction, the number of floors, and the minimum distance between the ADU and the main house. Some areas will impose restrictions on architectural styles and exterior wall materials. Pay special attention to whether there are subsidy policies or tax incentives for ADUs, which can reduce your cost investment to a certain extent.
Choose the Right Type of ADU
You want to build an ADU, so what types of ADUs are there? Different types of ADUs contain unique backyard ADU ideas. The following will help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of different ADUs and their application scenarios.
- Detached ADUs: This type is completely separated from the main house, with independent entrances and exits and private space, suitable for homeowners with ample backyard space. However, if the backyard is not large enough, you must choose carefully. Complete separation means that building detached ADUs is very free. A geodesic dome house is a good choice. The unique spherical structure has an eye-catching appearance and excellent space utilization, ensuring the convenience of tenants' daily lives. Its prefabricated construction mode shortens the construction period and reduces costs. It is suitable for homeowners who want to attract short-term rental customers through special listings.
- Attached ADUs: They share at least one wall with the main house and are functionally separated by an independent entrance. Some infrastructure can be shared and the construction cost is low. Suitable for homeowners who have limited space around the main house but still want to add a living unit. However, because it is connected to the main house, there may be problems such as sound insulation and privacy.
- Garage Conversions ADUs: Homeowners convert unused garages into living spaces without additional land and at the lowest cost. Suitable for homeowners with unused garages and limited budgets. However, when converting, it is necessary to pay attention to whether the original structure of the garage is suitable for living, which involves many aspects such as circuits, ventilation, and insulation. It is necessary to ensure compliance with building codes.
- Junior ADUs: They are located in the main house and are converted using existing space (such as basements and attics). The area is small and some facilities need to be shared with the main house. Its advantages are low construction costs and simple approval processes. Suitable for homeowners who want to quickly increase rental space and obtain income. However, due to the sharing of space and facilities, privacy and independence are relatively weak.
Smart Layout Ideas to Maximize Space
When creating an ADU, the right space layout is the key to enhancing its rental appeal. By cleverly using the following ADU ideas, you can maximize the value of limited space.
Open-Plan Layouts for a Spacious Feel
ADU space is extremely expensive, so an open layout is undoubtedly the best choice. Reducing unnecessary partitions and integrating public spaces such as the living room, kitchen, and dining area can visually extend the space scale. Of course, an open layout does not mean completely abandoning partitions. Necessary walls and partitions are retained to divide functional areas.
Smart Zoning Techniques
In a limited ADU space, partitions can make functional divisions clearer. ADU ideas are full of ingenious ideas to achieve invisible partitions through color and light and shadow. Use walls of different colors to distinguish between leisure and dining areas, or use the light and shadow changes of chandeliers and wall lamps to divide functional areas. This not only saves space, but also creates a sense of hierarchy.
In addition, movable partitions such as sliding doors and folding screens are also practical. When opened, the space is transparent and bright, and when closed, it can ensure privacy.
Think Vertically: Make Use of Wall Space
Walls are often overlooked "treasure areas" in ADUs. Multi-layer shelves and wall-mounted storage cabinets can be installed on the wall to store pots, pans, clothes and other sundries in an orderly manner. Retractable furniture such as vertical folding tables and wall beds can be stored against the wall when not in use and unfolded when in use. Vertical storage design can double the space of a small space.
Optimize Corners and Awkward Spaces
With a little modification, irregular areas such as the bottom of the stairs, window sides, and wall corners can become practical spaces. Custom built-in drawers and shelves are installed under the stairs, bay window cabinets are installed by the windows, and triangular shelves are set up in the corners. These activated corners fill the space gap and transform the "useless" space into a practical and beautiful functional area.
Multifunctional Furniture Design
Multifunctional furniture is a powerful tool for optimizing ADU space. The sofa bed is a comfortable leisure area during the day and can be transformed into a bed at night. The retractable dining table can not only meet daily dining needs, but also expand the tabletop when guests visit. The coffee table and ottoman with storage function can store bedding and sundries. The flexible form conversion of these multi-purpose furniture reduces the number of furniture and avoids space congestion.
Design for Comfort and Style
Clever ADU ideas can not only optimize space, but also give residents a pleasant living experience through design. Next, we will start from the dimensions of lighting, style, etc.
Prioritize Natural Light
Try to add large windows, skylights, or glass sliding doors to allow sunlight to fully enter the house. Sunlight is one of the key reasons why tenants choose to rent a house. Landlords can use thin and light-transmitting curtains to adjust the light intensity. The rent of a house with natural light can also increase appropriately, bringing in more income.
Style that Reflects Your Personality
The style design of ADU is a window to show the taste of the homeowner. It is a good idea to break the routine. Homeowners who love nature can choose log furniture, green plants and earth-tone walls to create a space close to nature. The unique style design can also attract some tenants who pursue inconsistent aesthetics. Let ADU become a personalized space that is both functional and artistic.
Add Personal Comfort Features
Although ADUs have limited space, they can also create a comfortable living experience through detailed design. The best ADU bathroom ideas are that the landlord can use warm light mirror headlights, non-slip floor tiles, and install constant temperature showers and smart toilets.
The whole house is equipped with silent doors and windows to isolate external noise. The air conditioner can adjust the temperature. Smart home devices can achieve one-click control of lighting and temperature. In this way, from living to bathroom, the living experience of ADU is comprehensively improved. Improve the occupancy rate and reputation of ADU.
Boost Rental Value with Bonus Features
Adding special features and layout to ADU can significantly improve its rental competitiveness and market value. The following design ideas can be used as a reference:
- Plan a small terrace and garden seats to create a relaxing atmosphere.
- Set up fences or green barriers to enhance privacy.
- Install solar panels to reduce energy costs.
- Use water-saving toilets and faucets to respond to environmental protection concepts.
- Use high-efficiency insulation walls to improve insulation effects.
- Set up independent entrances and exits to ensure tenants' privacy.
- Equip with exclusive parking spaces to solve parking problems.
- Add additional storage space, such as custom closets and attic storage.
Estimate Costs and ROI Before You Build
Accurately estimating costs and return on investment (ROI) is a key step. Blindly starting a project may result in losses later. Help you plan your budget reasonably to ensure that the project is profitable. The costs mainly cover the following aspects:
- Permits and Legal Fees: There are large differences in different regions. Detailed design drawings are required when applying, and the design fee depends on the complexity.
- Utility Connection and Site Preparation: If you need to connect to water, electricity, and sewage pipes independently, the cost will be considerable. If the site needs to be leveled, the foundation is treated, or trees are removed, the cost will increase accordingly. The connected ADU can save some costs by connecting to water and electricity from the main house. However, if long-term rental requires separate water and electricity metering, it will add about $2,000- $5,000 or even more.
- House Construction Cost: Traditional buildings generally fluctuate between $180 - $ 500 per square foot. Shelter Dome's modular design dome house can keep the cost at $10 per square foot. Because the house uses prefabricated components, the cost is lower than that of highly customized houses.
- Decoration Cost: The cost of basic decoration is far different from that of high-end decoration. If renting, practicality and cost-effectiveness are the main considerations.
- Labor Cost: varies by region, type of work, and complexity of the project.
Costs will be inconsistent due to various factors, so precise planning is required. In terms of market research, you can refer to the rents of similar ADUs or rental houses in the surrounding area to understand the local long-term and short-term rental market, and estimate the reasonable rental range based on this.
The payback period needs to be calculated based on the initial investment cost and the estimated monthly rent. The vacancy period, maintenance fees, etc., need to be considered. Only by comprehensively considering costs and benefits can the ADU investment payback and profitability be achieved within a controllable range.
Conclusion
From type selection to space optimization, can the ADU ideas provided in this article help you? If you want to create a high-value ADU and increase rental income, every link needs to be carefully planned.
If you want to worry-free implementation of the ideal plan, the Shelter Dome brand can tailor professional planning for you to help you easily maximize the value of your ADU. Contact us now!
