A California couple built a $500,000 ADU in their parents' backyard when they couldn't afford to buy a traditional house

• Aislyn and Ali Benjamin asked their wedding guests to gift money toward their first home.
• They utilized nan money to build an accessory dwelling unit, aliases ADU, successful nan groom's parents' backyard.
• As buying a accepted location remains expensive, immoderate Americans are turning to ADUs.

Newlyweds Aislyn and Ali Benjamin felt they couldn't spend to bargain a accepted spot successful their area of California — Danville, a mini metropolis conscionable complete an hour's thrust eastbound of San Francisco.

According to Realtor.com, nan median income value successful Danville is astir $2 million.

They weren't willing successful renting an flat long-term, truthful they opted for a much affordable option: an accessory dwelling unit, aliases ADU).

They now unrecorded successful a 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom ADU successful San Ramon, a metropolis adjacent to Danville. Financing and building nan ADU costs a full of $500,000, paid by nan mates pinch thief from their parents.

"This was nan champion determination we ever made," Ali Benjamin said. "It allowed america to prevention truthful overmuch money and unrecorded wherever we wanted."

In caller years, ADUs person go an progressively celebrated replacement to accepted apartments aliases houses. Homeowners whitethorn build them connected their properties to generate other income and trim indebtedness aliases to provide lodging for big children aliases aging parents who want independency but request other support.

First-time homeowners for illustration nan Benjamins are besides turning to them arsenic an replacement during a play of precocious location prices, comparatively costly owe rates, and an wide lack of starter homes.

For nan Benjamins, who tally mini businesses successful San Ramon— Aislyn, 30, co-owns nan cheerleading gym Norcal Elite, while Ali, 34, manages Benjamin's Boxing — building an ADU made nan astir financial sense.

"The main logic we chose to do this is to enactment adjacent to our work," Ali Benjamin told Business Insider. "The area wherever we activity successful San Ramon is beautiful expensive, and we wanted to unrecorded location without a commute, pinch bully schools and a beardown community, wherever we could yet commencement a family."

The lowdown connected ADUs

ADUs are smaller lodging units that typically scope from 150 to 1,200 quadrate feet, depending connected nan location. The mean costs to build an ADU mostly falls betwixt $100,000 and $300,000. Additional expenses whitethorn see tract preparation, specified arsenic inspections and inferior installations, and permitting fees.

Indeed, more ADUs are being built passim nan US.

In California, ADUs accounted for conscionable 8% of permits and 5% of completions successful 2018. By 2022, however, they comprised 18% of full permits and full production, according to an April 2024 study from nan Urban Institute.

The process of building nan Benjamins' ADU

For their 2022 wedding, nan Benjamins asked for money toward nan ADU alternatively of accepted gifts, raising $5,5450 done a GoFundMe run toward their $10,000 goal.

After consulting pinch respective builders, nan mates yet chose to activity pinch Villa, an ADU builder operating successful Los Angeles, San Jose, and different Bay Area cities that came recommended by a family friend.

Villa offers units ranging from 440-square-foot studios to 1,200-square-foot three-bedrooms, priced betwixt $95,000 and $180,000 — excluding installation and further costs. The institution handles nan permitting, building, and installation of nan ADUs for its customers.

In California, wherever astir backyard homes are built, permits tin costs anyplace from $450 to $15,000, according to Backyard Unlimited, a institution that builds ADUs.

In October 2022, nan Benjamins began designing their ADU.

By March 2023, they had removed a excavation from their parents' backyard to create abstraction for nan ADU, which was delivered 3 months later. Construction was completed by September 2023, erstwhile they moved into nan home.

To finance nan ADU, nan mates made a down costs of $100,000, while Ali Benjamin's parents took retired a $150,000 status indebtedness and a $200,000 HELOC connected their main location to thief them. The remaining $50,000 was allocated for add-ons, including actual work, which nan Benjamins financed passim nan process.

Even though California offers grants of up to $40,000 to residents building ADUs, nan Benjamins didn't person immoderate money for their project.

The mates intends to remodel nan main location successful nan coming years. When they commencement a family, they scheme to move surviving arrangements, moving into nan main location while their parents inhabit nan ADU.

"My parents are decidedly excited to beryllium adjacent to their boy and daughter-in-law and to person nan opportunity for america to go an moreover closer-knit family," Ali Benjamin said.

The Benjamins find ADU surviving amazingly luxurious

They went from surviving successful a two-bedroom, two-bathroom flat that costs them $3,086 a period successful rent to a full location for $2,900 monthly, including utilities. The costs goes toward a 15-year owe connected nan property.

Their ADU's room has quartz countertops and an island, pinch skylights passim nan family room, kitchen, and bathroom. They besides added a platform and a agelong driveway starring up to it, complete pinch an electrical gross for added privacy.

"I deliberation nan biggest misconception we sewage erstwhile I told group we were getting an ADU is that they imagined it arsenic a mini shack successful someone's backyard," Ali Benjamin said. "In reality, location are homes that are overmuch smaller than our ADU."