At the time, Combs was in her early 70s and living alone in a 1,400 square foot house in Pleasanton, California. She knew the place was too big to maintain, but she didn't want to sell her house and move away from the community where she had lived for over 40 years.
Combs was also haunted by the regrets of her own mother, who ended up in two different nursing homes before her death. Combs wanted to spend her old age in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by friends and family.
She found a new solution: to build a second, smaller home on her property, also known as an Accessory Dwelling Unit, or ADU.
"The idea was to age in place," Combs says." That means [eventually] either the caregiver can move into the ADU or I can move into the ADU and my daughter and her family can move into my house. For me, it's an option that my mother and I don't have."
According to an AARP 2021 survey, 77% of adults over the age of 50 want their current home to be their last residence. However, with many people occupying a large number of family homes with plenty of space they no longer need, many seniors like Combs are turning to ADUs.
Also known as 'granny flats', 'guest cottages' or 'father-in-law units', ADUs come in many shapes and sizes - either attached to an existing house, separate from the same property, or even a flat converted from a garage or basement. They often include a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and entrance separate from the main house - the perfect arrangement for older people who want some degree of independence but also want family nearby.
For families who want to keep aging relatives close by and provide independence, ADUs can provide a flexible solution to meet changing needs," says Whitney Hill, co-founder of SnapADU, a general contractor specialising in building ADUs in the San Diego area.
Hill added that she has had clients who have built an ADU for their adult children with the intention of moving into the ADU themselves once their children start to build a family and need more space, which can be provided by the main house. Other options include using the ADU as living quarters for 24/7 caregivers, or renting it out and using the income to offset the costs of retirement.
AccessoryDwellings.org, a website dedicated to all ADUs, notes that many seniors are turning to ADUs as "part of their retirement plan".
Currently, there are an estimated 1.4 million ADUs across the United States, with more than half of them in California, Florida, Texas and Georgia. Since 2015, there has also been double-digit growth in ADUs in cities with housing shortages, including Seattle, Los Angeles and Miami.
However, many states and cities have many regulations on the construction of ADUs, a fact Combs learned first-hand when she first began exploring the full cost of building an ADU. While the unit itself cost approximately $80,000, another $80,000 had to be spent on permits, fees and taxes associated with the ADU. All in all, Combs was forced to put her dream of an ADU on hold due to the high costs.
However, in 2020, ADU supporters won a key victory in Combs' state of California when SB13 was passed, removing many of the most onerous and costly bureaucratic restrictions on building ADUs. Since then, a strong lobbying effort by AARP has joined in to help 17 cities pass additional legislation to make ADUs easier to build.
In addition to easing legal restrictions on ADU construction, a growing number of companies are now stepping in to streamline the process.
In 2021, Combs began working with a California company called Cottage, paying $185,000 to design and build a 430-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom ADU with a kitchen. to finance the build, she used the equity in her own house to refinance the cash.
Cottage also helped Combs navigate the permitting process in Pleasanton - a nine-month "journey" through the nuances of the state's new ADU law. In addition, COVID-19 restrictions (such as virtual meetings and remote sign-off on documents) and a slowdown in the supply chain caused further delays, including a four-month wait for windows to arrive.
Finally, in the spring of 2022, Combs was handed the keys to her little new abode - which she thinks looks spectacular.
"I designed the ADU as a mini version of the house I love," Combs explains." So, as I age, the move could be a welcome downsizing."
However, as neither she nor her children are ready to move in yet, she has chosen to use the newly built ADU to provide affordable rental housing for her community.
In addition to helping retirees age in place, ADUs help alleviate America's housing shortage by providing additional homes in areas plagued by a lack of housing supply and high housing prices.
Knowing that housing in Pleasanton is scarce and expensive, Combs decided to rent out her ADU for $1,500 a month - a good deal considering that the median rent in the area hovers around $3,300.
Combs contacted local non-profits and housing groups and found her current tenant, police officer Rebecca Rodriguez, who was born and raised in Pleasanton and had been looking for affordable housing.
"I wanted to use my ADU to increase the amount of affordable housing in Pleasanton," Combs said." The ADU is the only affordable housing for the workforce being built where I live. It would also be a win for their lifestyle and climate change to live here, close to their jobs, and eliminate the cost of commuting for my tenants. Many workers who do not earn much travel long distances to work here because they cannot afford to live here".
This act of kindness has also benefited Combs in the form of increased income. And now that she has a sound retirement plan, she can finally relax.
"Completing the ADU," says Combs, "is a huge relief to have the option to live there when I'm older, while having a source of income while providing someone with a low-income housing option." A triple win!"
