ADU's in Gwinnett and Cobb County

[Lanre Ajala]

I'm looking to build a single family home with a basement ADU with the goal of renting the ADU within the Metro Atlanta area (specifically within Gwinnett or Cobb county). Are you allowed to rent an attached basement ADU within these areas via AirBNB or 12 month lease?

If so, how will mail work for the ADU renter? I'm assuming I will collect their mail and give it to them personally.

[Tracy R.]

I'm not positive, but I don't think an attached basement rental space would be called an ADU. You'd just be renting out the basement space. An ADU is typically a separate dwelling space.

On your question about renting out the basement, it depends.  I do this, and when I called Cobb County where I live, they said you could rent out space like this, but only to 1 unrelated person (unrelated meaning, not a family member).  So, officially, you couldn't rent it out to a couple or 2 roommates, or a family.

For mail, I have one mailbox for the property.  We just each check it and get our own mail out, and leave the other's mail for them to get.  It's no big deal.  If one of us is out of town, we pick it up for the other and put it in a basket in the garage.

If it's within a city limits in those counties, you'll also need to call the city, to see what their rules are.  

Also, if I were you, I'd stay away from a neighborhood with an HOA. Or if you do build in an area with HOA, double check the rules for renting. For example, mine originally said it was ok to rent out but not on Airbnb, only 12-month. But now they've changed those rules and there's a limit as to how many homes in the n'hood can be rentals.

Now here's what you really need to think about:  if you're going to build something, if I were you, having done the basement rental, I would not do it the way I'm set up.  I've made mine work, but there are issues that I cannot solve with renting out my basement.  But YOU can bypass these issues, if you're building new:

The issues with renting out the basement, which NO ONE ever talks about, are temperature control, and smell control, all related to the house having one HVAC unit.

So if you still decide to rent out the basement, I would strongly advise you to make sure there are 2 separate HVAC units, one for upstairs and 1 for downstairs.  I have found it impossible to regulate the temperature upstairs and downstairs.  It's either too cold for them, or too hot for me.  In both winter and summer.  But if you had 2 separate HVACs, the problem would be solved.

Also smells, when they cook, I smell it, and vice versa.  I hate this!  And trust me, when they bring back smelly takeout and heat it up, you will hate it.  I'm sure they hate the smell of my fish cooking!  Again, 2 separate HVACs would solve this.  Also, if you go this route, make sure you have a separate entrance, and enough parking so cars can get in and out without having to shuffle around.

The other option, if you have enough land, would be to build a completely separate dwelling on the property - an ADU. Honestly, I WISH I had this for myself. Then, there are no temperature of smell issues at all, and no shared floor/ceiling, etc. They have their own separate dwelling, it's still on your property, but you can be more apart in living space. This would work for either 12 month or Airbnb. But you'd need to make sure the land is large enough to support 2 dwellings on it, per the zoning. So check with the zoning dept in the town or city.

As you can see, there are a lot of factors to consider.  But if you're building something new, you can really do it right, and once you get it rented out to the right person, and it helps pay the mortgage, you will love it.  

I am so glad I did it, even with all of the issues with the air control above.  But if I had it to do again (and hopefully I will someday!) I would try to find a property that has 2 separate dwelling units on it.  Live in one, and Airbnb the other if possible, or do monthly, or long term.  Whatever seems like it would work best for that area.

Good luck!