003: Accessory Dwelling Units: What are they, and why do people invest in them – Kendyl Young

Marty :

Welcome to another episode of How to Move Your Mom (and Still be on Speaking Terms Afterward). I am with the illustrious Kendyl Young of DIGGS, and Kendyl is the owner of DIGGS. And she's been in real estate for 34 years. It's extraordinary. You never know what to look at, or unless you started as a teenager, my goodness. She's a nationally recognized speaker, which is why she's going to be so great on this podcast. And she's a consultant to agents and teams in real estate who are really looking to grow without sacrificing the client experience.

Marty :

So she really knows how to take care of her clients and move the deal along for lack of a better term, and also find just the right fit for her clients. She's very adept at that. Recently, Kendyl launched ADU DIGGS, which we're going to talk a lot about. ADU standing for additional dwelling unit-

Kendyl :

Accessory.

Marty :

Accessory. Thank you. It just blanked. Accessory.

Kendyl :

Think of it like a backyard house.

Marty :

Exactly, exactly because that's what it is. So this company, the ADU DIGGS is a prefab ADU company. So things are prefabricated, making it very easy. And it's designed to serve homeowners who are in established neighborhoods where you can build ADUs. I'm curious, Kendyl, is ADU just a California term or is that a general nationwide term? Okay, great.

Kendyl :

It's actually a global term. It's also used in Canada and the UK.

Marty :

Fabulous, great to know that. Thank you because I was wondering about that. So I always start off with asking you, what's your favorite memory of your grandparents?

Kendyl:

My grandmother is an extraordinary woman and she raised five kids, a single mother during the depression in a small farming town in California called Bakersfield. And after the war, there was a little bit of a problem with Asians.

Marty :

Oh yeah. Oh, there still is. But yes, exactly.

Kendyl :

Right. So she was just an extraordinary woman. Anyway. So many stories that I could tell, but the one that evokes the most heart memories is going fishing with my grandparents. That was their passion. And we would go out to Pyramid Lake and I'd be on that boat with my grandparents and me and my little brother. It's hot because it's summer and we're in the bow of the boat, kind of just half awake, half asleep. And grandma and grandpa are in the [inaudible 00:03:41] and grandpa's fishing and grandma's rustling up lunch. It's always bologna sandwiches, a little bit of tomato, a soda, some chips.

Kendyl :

I feel the... I can hear the waves lapping against the bow of the boat and the sun is just beating down and I'm so drowsy because I'm so hot and it's just all is right with the world.

Marty :

Hmm. 

Marty :

I just love that memory, that feeling of safety and beauty and those sounds how lovely that's great. So what is, for our audience, what exactly is the focus of your work?

Kendyl :

At its essence, it is helping people transition into better versions of themselves, which sounds so trite and cliche. But I have three companies, one focused on real estate agents, one focused on people who are looking for housing, and one focused on ADUs.

Kendyl :

And at the core, the whole purpose for it is to help people get to a better place in their life. And to do it, not through sales trickery, but through a discovery of what they actually need and delivering the resources and knowledge is what you need to make that transition. 

Marty:

What do you wish people knew about what you do?

Kendyl :

I wish they knew that I wasn't a salesperson. I wish they knew that I was... That I'm actually... Sales as defined by influence, manipulating, or cajoling people into doing something they didn't want to do. I categorically fail at that every day because well, mostly I'm not interested in doing that. So I wish that they knew that I'm just a super curious person who likes to identify solutions.

Marty :

That's wonderful. And you do, and that's why you have the three companies. Because it is in the same realm, but it caters to really specific needs that people have.

Marty :

So let's talk about ADU DIGGS. One of my first questions, and I think the audience too, what are the requirements of an ADU, the size, what it's used for, et cetera?

Kendyl :

Well, if anybody's actually really interested in that, you can send an email to me or to Marty and I can give you my ADU cheat sheet, which summarizes all of the important laws that were passed in 2020. So that'll kind of give you all of this stuff. But kind of the big talking points. An ADU is a separate living space. It's got to be complete enough that you could rent it to somebody. It's got to have its own kitchen, its own entrance. So it's got to be complete, it can't be a rec room or a shack.

Kendyl :

The largest that it can be is 1100 square feet. No, 1200 square feet, excuse me. But anything over 750 square feet, the cities can charge something called impact fees, which can dramatically increase how much your ADU will cost to build. Under 750 feet and the cities are not allowed to do it. So that's a pretty big deal.

Kendyl :

The other thing to remember is that you do not have to provide parking as long as your ADU is within a half a mile of public transportation. So any bus stop will do. Any bus stop we'll do as long as you're within a half mile of a bus stop, you're not going to have to create off-street parking, which is super important for anyone who wants to convert a garage.

Marty :

That's great. And question for you, so is there a limit as to how big the full property with the house needs to be? A half acre or something?

Kendyl :

No. There can be no restrictions on lot size. So it is possible, though not easy, to put an ADU on say a 3000 square foot lot. But you do have to conform to setbacks, which are four feet, four feet and five feet. So it's less than new construction. And you can also add to your current residents, right? So that's how you get something on a 3000 square foot lot. You would actually add something that we call a junior ADU, which means that it's part of the structure. You could even carve out a...

Kendyl :

If you've got a 4,000 square foot house and there's a master bedroom suite on one side of the house, you could actually carve out a portion of your property, make a separate entrance from the outside, install a kitchenette and it's now a junior ADU that you can rent out to somebody else. So that's perfect for a senior who maybe wants to maintain the privacy of their residents, but they want to have a home healthcare worker who has their own quarters. They could carve out a junior ADU.

Marty :

Interesting. So there are number of different uses for an ADU. Obviously additional rent income if you bring in somebody who has to live there because Lord knows we have a housing issue in LA.

Kendyl :

Which is why we have ADUs.

Marty :

Exactly. But to what we discussed on how to move your mom, it's wonderful for older adults. And I actually hadn't thought about that in terms of an older adult, having someone living with them to take care of them.

Kendyl :

Absolutely, think of it... Well, think of it this way. You have a niece or a grand niece that you love and you are older, not to the point where you need professional home health care, but a companion would be really useful, right? The younger relative, they don't want grandma to be all up in their space. They want their privacy. They want whatever. A junior ADU or an ADU is a perfect solution for somebody like that. Everybody gets their privacy. But you also have the security of somebody who you know, love and trust that is right there on the premises to help you with groceries, maybe some cleaning and there just on the other side of the door in case you need to go to the doctor or what have you.

Marty :

Or if you've stopped driving and you need... Instead of waiting for other forms of transportation, they can help you with that, which is great. And also if you get to tired... Because as you get older, you tend to get fatigued more easily. That just happens. And so they can also be kind of your housekeeper and things like that, obviously [you have to pay them 00:12:01].

Kendyl :

But so many permutations that solves for that. But I want my independence and privacy.

Marty :

It's so smart of you. It's your big heart and also just so smart of you to have this business because as you and I both know that the baby boomers and a lot of current older adults want to live out their lives in their home. They don't want to move. They don't necessarily want to move to a later life living community and so this is the perfect solution. Also, it's great for couples who might be baby boomers who have parents that they would rather have closer to them.

Kendyl :

Absolutely. I see a ton of interest from people who are boomers. They want to house mom or dad. It's usually because mom or dad has become a widow/widower. And so now they're like, "Ugh, I want mom or dad to be closer to me. I don't want them rattling around in that house that is two stories or dangerous or has so much maintenance, whatever. And I'm going to entice them to come live with me because I'm going to build them a beautiful new structure in the backyard with all the privacy and independence that they would want. But they're still close enough that I feel secure, that I'm taking care of them. And increasing the value of my house while I'm doing it."

Marty :

Well, that's the thing. ADUs really do add value to your property because it literally can be a rental property when you sell it. So the next owner can rent that out and pay at least a lot of their mortgage with the rental income.

Kendyl:

I'm also having a lot of people, boomers, who are mom and dad sells their primary residence. And then they gift them the money necessary to build the ADU. And that way the parent feels like they're not mooching off of their adult child. 

Marty:

So let's talk about your prefabricated ADUs that you provide.

Kendyl :

Well if you twist my arm, sure.

Marty :

Yes. I'm twisting, I'm twisting.

Kendyl :

let's talk. Let's talk, girlfriend. What would you like to know?

Marty :

I was going to say, "describe them to me." Square footage, what they're like.

Kendyl :

There's a lot of ways you can do an ADU, I just got to put that out there. A lot of people are going to go with the garage conversion idea because it's faster than a lot of site construction and it's typically the least expensive way to go. But it's also typically the lowest quality. Not always, but typically.

Kendyl :

So when we're talking about housing mom and dad, you should be housing them to the lifestyle to which they become accustomed, which is usually not a drafty old garage. I'm just saying. But building a site built... That's what we call it, site built. A site built ADU from scratch in your backyard will take anywhere from eight months to over a year to do.

Kendyl :

And you will have Mr. Contractor and his merry band of subcontractors banging around, causing dust and havoc and showing bits of their part that you really don't need to see on a daily basis and impinging upon your peace and tranquility of your daily life for the entire time while they're doing it.

Marty :

Not to mention that the older adult needs to wait that long to move in.

Kendyl :

Correct. Well, it's becoming because of the constriction of building materials and labor. There's not a lot of ways around that these days. But with a prefab... And I should also say when you do a site built, somebody, usually the homeowner, is responsible for getting permits. For getting the engineering, for figuring out the plan, getting an architect to figure out the design, both inside and outside. So floor plan and also what it looks like on the outside. Figuring out should the unit be oriented on the house or away from the house? Are we going to do separate utilities? What is that going to take? Battling with utilities. I mean, there's just... And then there's just aesthetics. Picking out light fixtures and plumbing fixtures and flooring.

Marty :

Which can be fun for some people, because I mean, this is nationwide. And so it can be fun for some people to do that, it's just entirely up to you.

Kendyl :

Right. And if that's your jam man, go for it and I can refer you to an HGTV crew while you're at it. It's just, that's awesome. Prefab are for the people where, what I just described makes them want to just sink into the ground and say, "You know what? I don't need an ADU."

Kendyl :

For those people, prefab is a wonderful option because it arrives at your house 90% complete. And what I mean by that is the permits are done, the engineering's done, the energy calculation so it's energy efficient, done. We've picked out all of your countertops and your cabinets and your flooring and your lighting fixtures and your windows are done. Everything is done. This is as close to pushing the easy button as I can imagine.

Kendyl :

So it shows up at your doorstep 90% done. And then we either pick it up with a crane and lift it and fly it. It's so cool, a house flying over the roof of your house. Which is how pre-fab is done and then we have a specific solution that isn't being done in the industry at all.

Kendyl :

We have a lot of mature trees and overhead electrical lines. That makes it hard to fly a house over the roof of your house. We actually developed a way to use a forklift to drive it down your driveway. And in that gap between your detached garage and your house, we'd go right through that ground and then we can put in there.

Marty :

How wide is it?

Kendyl :

I need 16 feet high and I need a little over 10 feet wide-

Kendyl :

 That fits with most of our 1930s, 1940s housing. And the look is very much to blend with historic architecture. We have a stucco side look that goes well with Mediterranean Spanish. We also have a vertical board and batten, so think your basic modern farmhouse look. Magnolia Farms anybody? It goes well with our ranch style homes, our traditional homes. And then we have a shingle side that was specifically designed to blend in with our craftsmen and our English tudors.

Kendyl :

If your house would look good with climbing roses, the shingle sided one is for you, and so it blends in.

Marty :

That's wonderful, because if people are going to go prefab or if they're just wanting to do it on their own, that gives them idea. You really do want to think of how it meshes with your current home, the current structure on the property. 

Kendyl :

If you've ever been inside a house where it's blatantly obvious there was an addition done, because it just sticks out like a sore thumb. Adding an ADU is the same way, it can either stick out like a sore thumb or it can blend like it was all designed to be together.

Marty :

Yeah. And that, again, that helps the value. If it looks completely different, you do want to build these things well with permits wherever you are. I mean, you can do this in an urban landscape, like what we've got here in LA, an urban-suburban here as well, and also rural. It's so worth it to have your parents close to you. Because another reason why it's a good idea to either, if you're an older adult, build one. Or if you're the adult kids, build one for mom or dad, is because of social isolation, which is a big contributor to dementia.

Kendyl :

And this is a way to do it because I hear from the seniors that I help all the time. I hear them talk about how they don't want to be a burden on their children and they don't like the idea of living with their kids. But when you take that away, they're like, "Yes, but I am lonely. I do love my grandkids. I do like being with them. I just don't want to be with them. I want to be with them, but I just don't want to be with them. You know what I mean?"

Marty :

Exactly. I want to have my own entrance. But yeah. I hadn't thought of that as grandma or grandpa's the built-in babysitter. Another reason to do it, here you go.

Kendyl :

Or a built-in you know, "what are you thinking?" Okay, maybe I'm thinking of my own grandparents. Because the story that I told doesn't talk about how grandma, we were all afraid of her so there's that.

Marty :

That's true. Yes. Keep in mind those family dynamics. Yes, that is fun and tricky part of what we do. Absolutely. Because honestly, when the big shifts in later life start to happen and people are moving, as you know, the most cozy of families, butt heads. It's just normal. That doesn't mean it's any more fun, but it's normal.

Kendyl :

Right. And a separate backyard house is a wonderful full solution for most family dynamics.

Marty :

Yeah. It's just such a great idea. And I'm glad finally LA county passed that ordinance to make ADUs easy to build.

Kendyl :

It's actually a statewide ordinance. So anywhere in California, and for those of you who are listening to Marty's podcast, not in California, this is a movement that is going across the United States. We have a nationwide housing shortage.

Kendyl :

We also have a new focus on keeping our seniors closer to us because COVID has shown us how dangerous it can be to institutionalize our family members. And this is something that is happening in Colorado and in Iowa and in Indiana. And I mean I just pay attention to ADU news across the country and it's happening everywhere.

We're all faced with ways to find affordable housing solutions for our loved ones. 

Kendyl :

We have to find good sustainable solutions that keep our communities in our families together and strong.

Marty :

What do you wish people knew about what you do, both as regarding the ADUs, but also as a realtor who works with a lot of older adults. What do you wish people knew about you and what you do?

Kendyl :

I wish that they knew that to me, it's not a sale. That to me, it is finding ways to help you through a life transition that cuts down on the fear and the chaos and, I guess, the prizes. Prizes should only happen in a blue Tiffany box. And I wish that people understood that the ability to do that takes years of experience.

Kendyl :

Many people feel that the buying and selling of a house is simple. It's so simple that anyone can do it. And in fact, it's highway robbery how much commission we charge. And they won't know until they get into it, just how complex and disorienting and stressful that can be. Nor do they understand until they get into it, all of the ways that inexperience can make things not only a lot more stressful and chaotic, but cost you a lot of money.

Kendyl :

And so you don't figure it out until you're into it and it's too late. Then you close Escrow and you're like, "Phew, I'm glad that's over." And you don't do it again for decades, right?

Marty :

Because it was so miserable.

Kendyl :

Because it was so miserable, right. And so many people are ignorant of the value that experience can provide for you. When I do my job well, you actually never... I'm like the men in black, right? I'm the person who kills all the monsters and you never even knew they existed.

Marty :

also for people who are looking for a realtor, do your research. Look them up online, see what kind of reviews they're getting. And really have questions ready at the interview. What kind of questions should they have ready when interviewing a realtor, wherever they may live?

Kendyl :

The last person that you did business with, how would they describe you to their friend?

Marty :

That's a great question.

Kendyl :

Right? There are a lot of real estate agents out there, why you? What do you bring? And listen carefully because 99% of the agents are going to say the same darn thing. So we're going to say variations of, "I will sell your house for more money in less time with the least amount of hassle to you." Does that sound like a canned line? It is. Because it is taught in every real estate class for the last 35 years. I know because I've heard it.

Kendyl :

And you do want someone who has the confidence that they can sell your house for the most amount of money in the least amount of time, with the least amount of hassle to you. You want color, you want details. You want anecdotes. What do you do specifically to accomplish that? 99.9% of real estate agents cannot answer that question because they've never been asked and they've never thought about it.

Marty :

that's important to know how they're going to market your house. That's important. How to get the most eyes on it, et cetera.

Kendyl :

I mean, if somebody were to ask me that question today, I'd say, "Yeah, that's really not going to help you figure out whether or not I'm the right person." And they're going to go "Why?" And I'll be like, "Well, because yes, I can sell it for the most amount of money, with the least amount of time, with the least amount of hassle to you. But that's not why you should hire me." And they'll be like, "well, why not?" And I'll be like, "Because any good agent can do that." And they'll be all like, "well, why?" And for me, it's going to be a lot of questions of why they called me in the first place, honestly.

Marty :

I know your mother was a realtor and really inspired you to go into real estate. I'm wondering what things you learned from her that were really terrific and useful and if there was some things you spotted and said, "Ooh, maybe I should do that another way."

Kendyl :

So my mother was a force of nature. She was one of those people that believe that she knew what you should do and your opinion didn't matter. We all know people like that, my mother was a third grade teacher. Do I need to say more, really? Okay. So I learned that I don't do that. 

Kendyl :

The most foundational lesson my mother ever taught me. She says, "Kendyl, the only thing that you have to sell is your reputation. You don't sell a house. You don't sell a buyer a house. That's just not germane to the process. The only thing that's important is your reputation, because that is what people will "buy"." And as long as they "buy" my reputation, which means hire me, the house that they buy, how long they take to do it, how many they go through... None of that is important, other than how you help them get to their goal in the way they want to get there, which by the way is not always fast.

Marty :

I don't think they're buying your reputation. They're investing in it because they're trusting you and with their most valuable asset. And so in that way, they invest in your reputation.

Kendyl :

I guess if we're going to mince words and I love mincing words, I would say that they're trusting my reputation.

Marty :

Yeah. They really are. That's wonderful. Kendyl, thank you so much for taking the time out of your very hectic day-

Kendyl :

You're welcome.

Marty :

... To sit down and talk with me, I really appreciate this.

Kendyl :

I thank you very much for the opportunity and for the people who are listening out there, you would be lucky to be able to use Marty and her team for all of the organizing and moving needs. She is phenomenal, compassionate, and ultimately trustworthy.

Marty :

Oh my goodness, Kendyl. Thank you so much. By the way, that's not a requirement for being on the podcast, but thank you very much. All of us at Clear Home Solution say thank you. That's very kind. 

Marty :

And by the way, you can find all of Kendyl's contact information on our website, howtomoveyourmom.com.