By Living Room Realty, August 25, 2021
Emi and Samuel recently moved to Portland from out of state and wanted to buy their first home together but were also keen on the idea of having a rental income. They wanted a property with an ADU, or at least good potential to build one themselves. Their plan started by first getting to know the city through staying in different Airbnb’s to familiarize themselves with what they had narrowed down as their favorite neighborhoods. Emi and Samuel quickly fell in love with Sellwood and even found their perfect niche within Sellwood and decided above all else, the location would be their primary deciding factor. Because we were essentially waiting for something to pop up in their perfect pocket of Sellwood we got to discuss a lot of different building and investment strategies they could go with on the different properties we were seeing in the neighborhood. As they got to know the neighborhood by talking with various residents, they learned of a little home being prepped for the market on a corner lot (great for if you want to build some ADU while maintaining some privacy). It was a smaller home than we had originally discussed but Emi and Samuel have both lived abroad and were relatively accustomed to smaller spaces so it was an easy compromise to make for the right location and building potential. After talking with an ADU consultant they determined the best approach would be to first live in the smaller original home while they design and build their dream home on the back end of the lot and have their entrance be on the side street. After the dream home is finished, they will turn the original home into the ADU. Since they are planning to attach the two structures via the garage and laundry room, and because the original house is small enough, they won’t have the typical height and size limitations of an ADU. This was a really fun and unique journey helping Emi and Samuel find their dream property and I’m so excited to see how they customize the space around them!
