Do you have enough space in your residential lot for a casita? For those who don’t know, casita is a Spanish word. It translates to ‘little house’ and it means a small residential building which is built on the same lot as a single-family home. Casitas are also commonly known as accessory dwelling units (ADU). That’s because…
By 2034, experts predict that seniors will outnumber children in the US. This means that a little over a decade from now, there will be 77 million Americans over the age of 65. At the same time, housing prices continue to soar, especially in sought-after locales like San Jose. Each year it becomes more challenging to make…
You love having friends and family over to visit. What you don’t love is having to share your home with them for extended periods of time. While you may have the space in your home, both you and your guests value privacy. The solution is a detached guest house. Detached guest houses are versatile. They’re…
First off, we talk to lots of homeowners who are looking to build an ADU. In fact, Acton ADU periodically hears from homeowners that have already started…and haven’t had a great experience on their ADU project. Actually, now that I think about it, periodically might not be accurate. In reality, we hear ADU horror stories…
We all want our friends and family to have a roof over their heads at all times, but affordable housing continues to be an issue in the U.S. In San Jose, finding shelter for its 1 million residents is certainly a tall order. Auxiliary dwelling units can be part of the solution. Built as either connected to…
As the old builder’s adage goes, if you can’t pour a foundation before winter, you shouldn’t do it until spring. And once upon a time, that was sound advice. Workers didn’t have the technology to build safely during the winter, from the construction itself to keeping workers warm. But then again, this is California. Nowadays,…
Have you been considering making an addition to your home? What about some form of an accessory dwelling unit, like a granny flat? Granny flats are a great addition to any home that needs a little more space. They help you, they help your family, and they help your elderly loved ones. Not ready to make…
Remember the days of 9-to-5, when everyone began the day with a tiresome trek to work and finished the day stretching out from their desk to walk to the car, bus, or train? These days, that’s not the standard workday anymore. In fact, while only 7% of the workforce operated on a flexible work schedule before the…
Have you had trouble finding the right tradesperson for a job around the house? Maybe it’s because you haven’t been asking the right questions. When it comes to constructing an accessory dwelling unit, the company you hire not only needs to know how to build the structure, but also the rules and regulations that come…
Case Study: Escaping Bay Area Costs, the story of the Parks ADU James Parks lives in the Almaden Valley in San Jose, California and wanted to invest in his family’s property. His intentions were to not only create a long-term asset, but to escape the crushing costs of Bay Area rent, and provide a future…
These days it gets harder and harder to spend quality family time together. Our children go to college, get married, and have families and careers of their own. Sometimes it seems like we never get to spend the time we used to with the people we love most. Many families live miles away from each…
You know you would do anything to support your loved one, and in these difficult times, family is the best support you can find. You also know that it takes a village–but first, the village needs somewhere to live. Most of the time, an investment property is all about return on investment. We’re here to…
