ADU vs Separate Property

ADU vs Separate Property

Temecula, CA 路 Member since 2020 路 2 posts 路 1 vote

We currently have an STR that we purchased in 2020 for $419K, which cashflows 70K in revenue. We have just taken out a line of credit on our primary residence and have 300K to invest. We have several options:

1. Spend $300K to add an ADU to our current home on five acres in a vacation destination that could generate a similar ROI as an STR. The structure itself would be unable to be leveraged for future investment but would add value to our primary residence. We also plan to use our primary residence as an STR once the kids leave for college in six years, and we start spending more time in Southwest France.

2. Split the $300K to purchase two additional properties in the exact location as our current rental, a similar unit, in the same building would now be $675K, and would significantly reduce cash flow vs. our current STR. A big concern is that if we don't get enough snowfall or have a bad fire season, all three units could sit empty.

3. Invest the money overseas in a property in Southwest France that we can rent now with smaller cash flow but solid appreciation.  We will live in it part-time when we retire in eight years.

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John UnderwoodPro Member
Investor 路 Greer, SC 路 Member since 2014 路 13k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
4y

You are netting 70k profit on a STR condo? This is after all expenses such as HOA?

If so I would vote you buy another one of these.

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  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor 路 Greer, SC 路 Member since 2014 路 13k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    4y

    You are netting 70k profit on a STR condo? This is after all expenses such as HOA?

    If so I would vote you buy another one of these.

  • Investor 路 Kansas City, MO 路 Member since 2021 路 16 posts 路 11 votes
    4y

    It'd be good context to know what your goals are to help guide your decision. Do you need good cashflow at this stage in your investing? If so, perhaps 1 or 3 would be the best options. If appreciation is the bigger play here, it sounds like 3 might be your best option. I don't know anything about overseas investing but have heard it's wise to invest where you like to travel for tax purposes. I'm not a CPA, but you might be able to write off much of that travel depending on how you do it, in which case that would increase your overall ROI. I'd recommend discussing the three options with a good CPA to see what option will benefit you the most from a tax standpoint an calculate your ROI with this in mind.

    If 3 appreciates as well as you're hoping and you'd have nice cashflow from the start, I'd lean toward this. As it increases in appreciation, your cashflow will do even better and you'd have the tax benefits. More context on your risk tolerance, resources and overall goals would help make a decision though. 

  • Cambridge, MA 路 Member since 2015 路 652 posts 路 736 votes
    4y

    I am not a typical investor so not sure how useful my opinion is but here are the reasons I chose the ADU route.

    1) It could become a unit where we live when we no longer can climb stairs. We could provide our current primary residence to either our son or someone else willing to live near and keep an eye on us. 
    (2) As an STR, the ADU could provide me with something to do during retirement, especially the first year when I was finding a new identity. I suspect that the fact that you have your eyes on southwest France means you don't have a need for such a transition between career and retirement 馃榿!

    (3) An ADU can become a space for visiting children & grandchildren.

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