So we started looking at the idea of building her a little place on our property. I love the whole modern, prefab, small house movement. But the pricing is just crazy, way out of the ballpark for 85% of the country. If I bought my 2,000 square foot, 4/1.5 MCM home on three acres for about 200K, it's tough to imagine spending upwards of 100K for a small granny flat to put out back, KWIM? Especially when it likely would add only a fraction of that cost to the overall value of the property.

We found the most cost-effective solution (at least in our area, with our collective finances) was to buy an existing home, probably 1950-1970 vintage, with a walk-out basement that was either already set up as an apartment, or could easily be renovated into an apartment. We haven't taken that step yet, but at least we've done the homework.

The way that many folks get around it is to put the unit on skids or on wheels. If you do a storage shed on skids, you can place it closer to the property line than a permanent structure with a foundation. No building permit required, at least here in Mobile.

We also found the perfect two story house. Each floor 1400 SQ FT a three and one on top and a one and one on the bottom with enough open space to build in another bedroom or two. Was a great place and I was really disappointed Mom decided not to leave her home in AZ. With the house we figured we would use the lower floor for live in help when it was no longer needed for my Mom.

The house was built into a slope so both levels had out side access with out stairs. We were going to put one of those chair elevator on the stairway inside for Mom when needed. We had it all figured out. Loved that place so much.

They make small manufactured homes for about 25 to 35 K. Our friend had one they lived in for a year or so. Was pretty nice.

they're maybe 500 sq ft. I went in one once to check it out. very nice.

check out the link. click on the one in the lower left corner.

"Not your grandma's ADU
ADU stands for Accessory Dwelling Unit and they might just be your next edited home. You might know ADUs by their other, quasi-affectionate names such as granny-flats, mother-in-law-apartments and so on. They are dwellings, either attached or detached from a main house, that exist on a lot with another house. Many ADUs are built above garages such as the one pictured above.[note: not included]

ADUs have myriad benefits such as:

-- Creating a secondary rental income.
-- Increasing the occupancy of a given plot of land.
-- Creating more communal living, while still providing autonomy and privacy for both homes.
-- People who may have once needed a large home--e.g. parents whose children have moved out--can move into the ADU and rent out the main home.

ADUs are not lean-tos; they are real homes that require building permits and some investment. A great resource is accessorydwellings.org, which goes into the ins-and-outs of ADU construction, financing, zoning for every state and other issues. SEE AND READ ON