Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Accessory dwellings are all the rage, and I have some new stats to highlight explosive growth of ADU permits in the United States. And I went viral twice in recent weeks, and I want to share some thoughts on that now that I’m back from vacation. 

UPCOMING SPEAKING GIGS:

8/6/26 PCAR Auburn
8/25/26 Elk Grove MLS Meeting 8:30am
9/1/26 ROG Talks
10/2/26 PCAR Rocklin
10/21/26 Coldwell Banker Sierra Oaks / EDH

AN EXPLOSION OF PERMITS FOR ACCESSORY DWELLINGS

Some new research from Cotality shows an explosion of ADU permits in the United States, so we have a real trend on our hands. However, I’d like to see how much California means here in the data since California had 72% of the ADU permits in the country in 2025 according to Cotality research. 

TOP TEN STATES FOR ACCESSORY DWELLING PERMITS

Check out the top ten states for ADU permits. If you live in one of these states, are you starting to notice more accessory units? They are extremely common here in California, though not in every neighborhood. Being that they are expensive to build, I typically see them in locations above the median sales price. I’m definitely noticing more investors adding them to their properties to create ADU compounds also. 

By the way, which state would lead in non-permitted ADUs? 

IT’S POLICY. NOT JUST SUPPLY & DEMAND.

It’s nice to see California on top of a list these days since the state gets so much hate online, and leading is a reflection of progressive housing policy to ease the construction of ADUs. This is a powerful reminder that policy shapes the housing market. We often say housing is about supply and demand, but policy shapes supply and demand. All that said, it’s nice to see more accessory dwellings, but we need all types of units, and ADUs alone aren’t the solution to a housing shortage (even though they will help). 

THE LINE IS GETTING BLURRY

The line between an ADU and a full-fledged second unit is getting blurry. For instance, last week someone asked me if a duplex with an ADU would be considered a triplex. That’s a good question. Let me ask you this. Is a single-family home with an ADU a duplex? I’m not trying to create confusion. All I’m saying is there are some big questions ahead, and expect a growth curve for the real estate community and lenders. I believe lenders have been behind the ball already with not allowing an ADU on a duplex, but thankfully this is changing (thanks Joe for the comment (I updated this sentence)).  

GETTING EASIER TO FIND ACCESSORY UNITS ON MLS

MLS added an “ADU” field a couple years ago, and this is a great feature that many people don’t know about. Check out how many properties come up with potential ADUs when I’m looking at current listings, pendings, and sales in 2026. If you don’t see the “ADU” field while doing a map search, click “fields’, and then add the “ADU/2nd Unit” category so it will show up during every search from now on. You can also try the “Other Structures” field and then select “Guest House” to see if that works. I find when searching for ADUs, we have to try different ways of finding comps. In addition to these two fields, I would also click “search criteria” and “public remarks” to type in stuff like, “ADU,” “mother-in-law,” and “guest quarters.” 

The positive here is we have so many types of structures to look through, but we also have to sift through other stuff like a pool house, studio without a bathroom, she shed in the backyard, garage conversion, and other stuff. Remember, an ADU needs a sleeping area, bathroom, and cooking area, so if it doesn’t have one of those elements, then maybe the ADU field shouldn’t be selected on MLS? All that said, real estate isn’t always black and white, so I think no matter what there is going to be some sifting needed. Whatever the case, this is absolutely a step in the right direction, and I appreciate Metrolist being on top of this.

I WENT VIRAL & I HAVE SOME THOUGHTS

I had two really viral posts on Twitter / X, and I have some thoughts to share. I guess this is off-topic, but it’s my blog, right? 

MY TAHOE VACATION VIRAL POST

After a vacation in Tahoe last week, I posted the following photo on X (Twitter) because I thought it was striking for an Airbnb owner to warn about a Craigslist scam on the outside of the house. I think most people understood that I was simply a guy sharing this photo while legitimately renting the house, but I’ve had to clarify a good amount that I was not scammed. I added a few comments on the thread to add clarity too, of course. This post had 5.9 million impressions though. Holy Batman!!

1. Sometimes the most random stuff can go viral, and that’s what’s so puzzling about social media. I’ll very likely never have a blog post or real estate content that has quick reach like this. 
2. I don’t think going viral is the goal. In my mind, the goal of social media is to consistently get on base and build relationships with people. This post didn’t really add too many followers either. 
3. Going viral takes a ton of time to respond, clarify, and have the same conversation over again a few hundred times probably. Part of the problem here is my original post probably needed more information, so that’s on me. As Mike Simonsen said to me, “There is nothing like a viral tweet to ruin a weekend.” Haha. 
4. This led to an interview with KCRA Channel 3, and my photo is in the NY Post too (looks like a mug shot). I don’t know if this is good or bad, but I guess I think it’s kind of funny. 

Okay, let’s talk about the second viral post, which got surprisingly ugly for such a lighthearted topic. I was sharing about my garage man cave and what a difference it has made in my life for building friendships. Check out the thread here if you want. I’ve been very open in recent years about working too much and finding myself to be a statistic in the male loneliness epidemic. Anyway, I’ve been intentionally working to build friendships with people instead of just working, and this man cave has played a big part in helping me create some new patterns in life. I know I’m not alone here either because so many people have told me they can relate, and I’ve had some real estate friends ask me if their husbands can hang out with me (yes, they can). 

1. Going viral can bring out some very nasty comments. When friends saw the comments on this thread and some quote tweets, they were collectively saying to me, “WTF happened here?” Honestly, I don’t know. I have to think the thread was linked to some online group because people came at me strong saying I wasn’t a real man, I was gay, this was an AI photo, and I was an out-of-touch Boomer (I’m Gen X). As soon as I posted that I was going to silence my notifications on the post, activity died down, and that tells me people are just looking for a reaction. Yikes though. The ugly part of going viral is this is what can happen in the comments. 
2. The real world is full of cool people. Ultra-negative comments on social media don’t reflect what the real world is actually like. Don’t let the trolls shape your worldview. 
3. I picked up 3,000+ followers from this post. I don’t know how many are real people versus bots, but I’d say despite the negativity, so many people are craving friendships and they resonated with my garage. 
4. Be careful about micromanaging people’s words online. What we don’t want to do is look at a few sentences and assassinate a person’s character based on that. It’s sort of like when someone says they like apples, another person will then say, “Why do you hate oranges?” Sigh.
5. By the way, if you’re thinking constantly about whether you’re an alpha or a beta male, maybe it’s time to check yourself and start ignoring those labels. In my view, a man takes responsibility for his life and offers strength to others, and there isn’t just one narrow package of what a man looks like either. 
6. My kids weren’t happy that I responded to the negative comments, and it honestly affected my mood quite a bit that weekend, but here’s the thing. I’m not okay with people talking to me like this, so I wanted to say something. Was it worth it? Probably not to be honest. I did like that a few people deleted their nasty comments though after I would say things like, “Tell me more. How is it gay to build friendships with people?” I just hate that people can be so mean and I have to sit there and take it. I’m not looking for any lectures here. I just wanted to share my thought process of why I said something rather than nothing. You do you. 
7. Lastly, this reaffirmed my belief that we get to choose how we show up in person and online, and I believe we need to be the same in both places. Be cool to people. Mean people suck (’90s bumper sticker reference). 

Anyway, I’ve had enough viral content over the past couple of weeks. I’m okay with modest reach ahead. 

Thanks for being here. 

Question: Would you ever build an ADU? What do you think of this trend? And what do you think about going viral?

If you liked this post, subscribe by email (or RSS). Thanks for being here.