How to Build an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)
What you'll learn
- Estimate the costs, revenue, and return on investment from an ADU
- Vet contractors, architects and their bids
- Understand what you can and can't build on your property based on permit and mortgage guidelines
- Prevent mistakes and pitfalls
- Understand the likely timeline and set proper expectations for construction complettion
- Strategically plan your property for 1, 10 and 20 years out
- How to accommodate building for family members to create a fair multigenerational legacy
- Understand the pros and cons of stick-build construction, factory built ADUs and Tiny Homes
Requirements
- No experience needed
Description
Whether you're just getting started or stuck mid-process, California's top ADU lender will teach you how to build your Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), optimize return on investment, and create multi-generational wealth while avoiding the mistakes, pitfalls and bad contractors that can cost you the biggest investment of your life: your home. You will learn:
What you CAN build on your property according to state laws, local permit rules, and Federal Mortgage guidelines
How to estimate construction costs
Construction loan options and strategies to avoid being crushed by a loan
Monthly payments vs rental income, including spreadsheets that do the calculations for you
Different loan strategies to achieve your goals
How to vet contractors and their bids, including sample contractors, lingo, etc. Includes sample bids we like and example of contract language to avoid.
Stick-build vs factory-built options
Extra monthly costs
Rent vs sell your ADU
Timelines and step-by-step instructions including forms
Government incentives (free money) to encourage you to build housing
Why ADUs now and how governments plan to get out of this housing crisis
This course is not long, but it will provide the information and confidence to get started on building multigenerational wealth and a legacy for your family. Best of all, instead of working for your house, now your house is working for you!
Who this course is for:
- Anyone on their ADU journey
Instructor
- -- Instructor Rating
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- 1 Student
- 1 Course
Meredith Munger Stowers (formerly Leyva) helps people achieve their goals. Stowers is a loan officer at ADUloans(dot)net with a focus on helping families, buy, build, renovate and refinance property, notably Accessory Dwelling Units, (ADUs). She operates ADUloans(dot)net and serves as a founding member of the ADU Coalition and Casita Coalition, advocates for attainable housing.
She wrapped up her nationally syndicated column, "The Marketing Coach" in the Business Journals. Previously, Stowers served as Chief Operating Officer for Voices Heard Media, the leading social media applications and consulting company serving clients including Disney and Scripts Networks. Before that, Stowers served as a consultant to Military /Monster com after that company acquired her online community and magazine, CinCHouse com, where she was CEO and editor. She is the author of "Married to the Military: A Survival Guide for Military Wives, Girlfriends and Women in Uniform" (Simon & Schuster, July 2003 and 2008). Her editorials and news articles have been syndicated to over 140 military base newspapers worldwide, and she has been a contributor to Army Times Newspapers, the USO's "On Patrol" magazine, Military com and other military publications. Meredith regularly represented CinCHouse com in the national press, including feature stories on CNN, Fox and NPR. Her work with CinCHouse has also been featured in such publications as USA Today, the Washington Times and Joint Forces Quarterly.
As part of her work on CinCHouse com, Meredith founded Operation Homefront which is now the fifth largest charity serving military families.
Previously Meredith worked as a public relations consultant and lobbyist for a variety of companies including CareerBuilder com, Boeing, Eli Lily, Motorola and Iridium.
Meredith also served as director of Public Relations for the American Enterprise Institute and legislative assistant to Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ). She served on the National Advisory Board of the Independent Women’s Forum which published her 2001 book on Social Security reform entitled "Women and Retirement Security."