Cohousing-L Mailing List: building rentals

[Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah (welcome]

On Feb 16, 2010, at 3:16 AM, cohousing-l-request [at] cohousing.org wrote:

> Do people build homes in projects where they anticipate designated
> rentals? Like a Granny House or make an apartment out of the
> basement? It might not be something people would like to do, but it
> makes things possible.

In my experience,  a rentable part of one's house is not an overall  
financial advantage. I have a daylight-basement rental apartment in my  
house and it works for me, but that's because my dad paid for the  
building of the house, and I collect the rent. Building a 450 sq ft  
ADU in the basement, with its own bathroom and kitchen appliances, own  
entrance door, lighting, heating, soundproofing, windows, and all  
that, probably added $40,000 to the cost of building the home. I rent  
it for  $360 a month, which covers the additional heat, phone line,  
water, and electric utilities, and maintenance. The actual "income"  
above that isn't much, and would take decades to pay back the  
additional construction cost. So, while it might be possible to reduce  
overall costs by building in a rental, it's not a given.

For people with kids, it's helpful to think ahead to when the kids  
move out. I could have planned my daughter's room to be a more  
suitable housemate rental space, had I kept that in mind. (And it has  
been rented out, as well.)

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau
RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend WA
www.rosewind.org