Permit and build an ADU in your backyard
Your lot screened against local ADU rules for size, setbacks, parking, and utility capacity, a pre-application meeting held, plans procured and permitted, impact and connection fees budgeted, the build contracted and inspected, and the unit legally rentable with the numbers that justified it confirmed.
Free preview: 4 of 22 steps
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Who it's for
Homeowners in states and cities that have legalized accessory dwelling units, including California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and others, who own a single-family lot and want rental income or space for a parent, and who cannot yet tell a feasible project from a fantasy.
About this playbook
This guide takes a single-family homeowner from an afternoon feasibility screen to a rentable backyard unit with the permit in hand and the numbers confirmed. It walks the entitlement path first: state and local ADU rules, utility capacity, the pre-application meeting, and a full fee stack including impact and connection fees. It then covers procuring plans, the ministerial permit process, contracting the build, passing inspections, and renting the unit. Each phase ends in a visible result, and the financial go or no-go gate comes before any design or construction spending. It does not cover owner-building the structure yourself, lender underwriting details, or landlord law beyond the basics.
What you'll do, step by stepFree preview
Only a sample is open: 4 of 22 steps can be read in full. The rest unlock when you buy.
Phase 1: Screen the lot for feasibility
4 stepsPhase 2: Master the local rules and meet the city
4 stepsPhase 3: Price the project and run the numbers
4 stepsPhase 4: Design and permit the unit
4 stepsPhase 5: Build and inspect
3 stepsPhase 6: Make the unit rentable
3 steps
Details
What you need first
You own the property outright or your lender permits an ADU, no HOA covenant or deed restriction bars the unit, the lot connects to municipal water and sewer or has documented well and septic capacity, and you can fund the entitlement phase of roughly USD 10,000 to 20,000 before construction begins.
