If a house with an ADU or a duplex works, why does almost nobody buy one?
The loan rules allow it, and in 2025 about 49,000 home purchase loans went to buyers who would live in a two-to-four unit home. That is fewer than 1 in 70 purchase loans. Few of these homes sell, and listing sites, agents and lenders are mostly set up for single houses.
WHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE NEVER TOLD
A listing shows the asking price. It does not show what it costs you to live there after the rent, which is why a fourplex can look like the expensive choice.
Part of it is scarcity. Loans to buy these homes, investors included, were under 3 in 100 purchase loans. Two ordinary things add to it:
- At fewer than 1 loan in 70, an agent or loan officer can go a long time without handling one.
- Fannie Mae lets lenders skip the appraisal on some house loans. Two-to-four unit homes are not eligible, so each one waits on an appraisal.
So start with the loan. Before you offer, have your debts run against your income with this home's payment and rent. The appraisal comes after you are under contract.
Most buyers were never told a home can come with a rental. Now you know.
GOOD TO KNOW
Decide whether living beside your tenant and fixing what breaks suits you. That work is what the rent pays you for.
Yours is a little different. They all are.
Tell us what you are looking at and what you are trying to do. We answer with the numbers on your situation.
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WHERE THIS COMES FROM
- HMDA Data Browser (FFIEC and CFPB), 2025 home purchase applications. Counts by number of units and by occupancy are Series Homes analysis of this data. Denial rate is denied, divided by originated plus approved but not accepted plus denied.
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.4-10, Value Acceptance (06/03/2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-02, Subject and Contract Sections of the Appraisal Report (06/04/2025)
Researched and written by Series Homes. Checked against its sources on . Lending rules change. This page is general information, not a loan offer or legal or tax advice.