Building an ADU in 7 minutes!
This is the most personal project I've put on the channel: converting my basement into an ADU — an accessory dwelling unit — so I live in a 2-bed, 1-bath upstairs while renting out the 2-bed, 1-bath downstairs. Seven minutes of video, months of work, and a mortgage that mostly pays itself. Here's the full story, and the playbook if you want to copy it.
The strategy in one paragraph
House hacking is the cheat code of first-time real estate: buy with an owner-occupied loan (better rates, lower down payment), carve the property into your unit plus a rental, and let the tenant's rent attack your mortgage. The ADU version beats the roommate version in every way that matters — separate entrance, separate space, actual privacy. You get the financial benefit of sharing your house without sharing your kitchen. In a market as expensive as ours, this is the difference between "can't afford to own here" and building equity while someone helps pay for it.
What the conversion took
The video walks the real scope: framing the separation, finishing the kitchen and bath downstairs, egress and safety requirements, and the sound-and-systems details that make two units actually livable under one roof. None of it is exotic construction — it's methodical, permit-it-and-do-it-right work. The mistake people make is treating an ADU like a finished-basement project; the legal unit is what creates the durable value and the rentability.
Why this matters beyond my basement
Utah has been steadily loosening ADU rules precisely because housing supply is short — and around Park City, where workforce housing is the eternal crisis, a legal long-term rental unit is both good economics and genuinely useful to the community. For buyers: houses with ADU potential (walkout basements, side entrances, right zoning) carry hidden value most shoppers never price. It's one of the specific things I screen for when clients want their first property to work harder. Watch the seven minutes, then let's find you a house with a mortgage-killer hiding downstairs.
Thinking about buying, selling, or investing in Park City? Reach out anytime — call or text (801) 837-4445.