Austin Househack- SFH and ADU

[Sarah Schmidt]

Hi! My name is Sarah, and I just moved to Austin from Chicago. I am a consultant, and am currently paying $1,800/month for a one bedroom in east Austin. I have been very interested in buying a tiny home once my lease ends but strugggled wIth where to park it. Then i started to read about individuals buying a single family home and adding a ADU. I am interested in renting out the SFH and living in the ADU, and was thinking east Austin since I love it here. I have steady income & great credit score but no money saved up. Is this an option for me? What would the first steps be?

[Caitlin Bigelow]

hi Sarah, hgtv has really done a disservice to people making you think you can plop a tiny home anywhere and live mortgage free and happy. I wrote extensively about this topic on my website. Tiny homes (with wheels, ie: non permanent) are illegal to place on SFR pretty much anywhere in the country. They are classified as Rvs and must be parked in an RV Park, but there's even a lot of restrictions there.

To build an ADU, which is about as close to a tiny house as you can legally get, you need to build on a SFR. With no down payment I don't know how you'd pay for that. ADUs are expensive. Their cost per square feet is higher than larger sfh because you don't have the offset of cheap square footage, hallways, big bedrooms, etc and you still have to have a bathroom and kitchen.

The most recent article I wrote about on my site talks about subdividing lots and selling the ADU separately. You may be able to find someone willing to let you build on their land and the subdivide it and sell to you. Obviously a bit trickier, but cheaper than buying an entire home + ADU and completely legal.

Good luck!