--- title: "Real Numbers From 4 of Our Build-to-Rent Projects | Addicted to ROI" description: "A $130K conversion worth $525K, a $350K duplex worth $900K: real costs, multiples, rents, and the failures, from four infill build projects." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization", "name": "Addicted to ROI", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com/images/logo.png" }, "description": "Live your best life funded by your investments. Real estate, taxes, travel, and business, by Jennifer Beadles.", "founder": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer" }, "sameAs": [ "https://agentsinvest.com", "https://doorprofit.com", "https://repstime.com", "https://strhours.com", "https://kidspayroll.com", "https://rentstager.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#website", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com", "name": "Addicted to ROI", "publisher": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/?q={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer", "name": "Jennifer Beadles", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com/about/", "jobTitle": "Founder, Addicted to ROI", "description": "Real estate investor and founder of Addicted to ROI. Built an 8-figure rental portfolio across multiple states and teaches everyday investors how to build passive income.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "sameAs": [ "https://agentsinvest.com", "https://doorprofit.com", "https://repstime.com", "https://strhours.com", "https://kidspayroll.com", "https://rentstager.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/btr-numbers/" }, "headline": "Real Numbers From 4 of Our Build-to-Rent Projects", "description": "A $130K conversion worth $525K, a $350K duplex worth $900K: real costs, multiples, rents, and the failures, from four infill build projects.", "image": "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1503387762-592deb58ef4e?w=800&q=80", "datePublished": "2026-07-09", "dateModified": "2026-07-09", "author": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "speakable": { "@type": "SpeakableSpecification", "cssSelector": [ ".tldr-answer", "h1" ] } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Blog", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Investment Strategies", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog?category=investment-strategies" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Real Numbers From 4 of Our Build-to-Rent Projects", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/btr-numbers/" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How much does it cost to build a DADU?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Our ground-up cost runs near $250 per square foot in Washington with established sub relationships; garage conversions run $80,000-150,000 all-in. Regional labor, finish level, and code requirements (especially energy code) swing these materially." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is build-to-rent profitable for small investors?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Our four current infill projects created roughly $325,000 to $550,000 of equity each, at 14-32% unlevered returns on cost. The margin comes from owning or cheaply controlling the land and building only where finished values comfortably exceed build costs." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the biggest risks in small-scale building?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Permitting timelines (our conversion took 12 months to permit), slow structural engineers, code surprises on conversions, and unit-count thresholds that trigger expensive requirements like frontage improvements and ADA units. Bid vendors wide and let the math pick the unit count." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Why call a duplex stacked ADUs?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Classification drives fees. As ADUs, one of our projects avoids sewer and water capacity fees entirely and pays about half the traffic and park fees, roughly $40,000 saved on an identical building. Ask your planner what each label costs before you apply for permits." } } ] } ] --- [![Addicted to ROI](/images/logo.png)](/) [Travel](/pillars/travel/)[Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/)[Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/)[Business](/pillars/business/)[Paths](/paths/)[Blog](/blog/)[Tools](/tools/)[Apps](/software/)[About](/about/) [Login](https://members.addictedtoroi.com/) Subscribe [Travel](/pillars/travel/)[Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/)[Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/)[Business](/pillars/business/)[Paths](/paths/)[Blog](/blog/)[Tools](/tools/)[Apps](/software/)[About](/about/)[Login](https://members.addictedtoroi.com/) Contents 1. [01 The Four Projects ](#the-four-projects) 2. [02 What Things Cost Per Foot ](#what-things-cost-per-foot) 3. [03 What Went Wrong (So You Can Plan For It) ](#what-went-wrong-so-you-can-plan-for-it) 4. [04 FAQ ](#faq) [Home](/)/ [Blog](/blog/)/ [Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/) Investment Strategies # Real Numbers From 4 of Our Build-to-Rent Projects A $130K conversion worth $525K, a $350K duplex worth $900K: real costs, multiples, rents, and the failures, from four infill build projects. July 9, 2026 9 min read Contents 1. [01\. The Four Projects](#the-four-projects) 2. [02\. What Things Cost Per Foot](#what-things-cost-per-foot) 3. [03\. What Went Wrong (So You Can Plan For It)](#what-went-wrong-so-you-can-plan-for-it) 4. [04\. FAQ](#faq) tl;dr Four of our Washington infill builds: a $130,000 shop-to-Airbnb conversion worth about $525,000, and three duplex projects at $335,000 to $375,000 in cost worth $660,000 to $900,000. That's roughly $325,000 to $550,000 of equity created per project at 14 to 32% unlevered returns. The catches were real too: 12 months of permitting, slow structural engineers, and a $7,000 energy-code surprise. The question I get on every build-to-rent conversation is the same: what does it actually cost, and what do you actually get? Fair, because the content you'll find on this topic is long on strategy and suspiciously short on invoices. So here are four of our own projects, with the real numbers, including the parts that went sideways. All are Washington State infill builds; costs and values are as of my December 2025 deep dive on them. ## The Four Projects Project Cost Value complete Multiple Equity created Annual rent Unlevered ROI Shop-to-Airbnb conversion ~$130,000 ~$525,000 ~4x ~$395,000 ~$42,000 (conservative) 32% Stacked-ADU duplex ~$350,000 ~$900,000 ~2.5x ~$550,000 ~$53,000 ~15% Walk-back duplex ~$375,000 ~$800,000 (conservative) ~2x ~$425,000 ~$53,000 14% Flip + duplex (boundary-line deal) ~$335,000 $660,000 ~2x ~$325,000 ~$48,000 14% The shop conversion is the outlier and the poster child: a shop that rented as storage for $500 a month for six years, converted under Washington's new DADU rules into a themed Airbnb with a barrel sauna and fire pit, three minutes from the water. It became [Timber & Tide](https://timber-tide.com), modeled conservatively at $42,000 a year with a projected range up to $60,000. Four-times multiple on cost because the structure and land already existed. The stacked-ADU duplex is a 25x40 two-story box behind two small houses we own, on an alley. Stacked units aren't ideal, but the lot gave us no other option, and here's my favorite line item: by legally designating the building as "stacked ADUs" rather than a duplex, we pay no sewer or water capacity fees and get about half off traffic and park fees, worth roughly $40,000. I'm willing to call it stacked ADUs for a $40,000 difference. The walk-back duplex sits behind an existing duplex on a dead-end street with no alley: all parking in front, rear units reached by a 4-foot walkway. Code actually required zero parking (near a bus stop, units under 1,200 sqft), but real tenants have real cars, so we built parking anyway, on pervious pavers specifically to avoid triggering onsite drainage requirements. Limited access caps the rents, but the lot was free because we already owned the front property. The flip + duplex was the elegant one: a house that came with an extra adjacent lot. Boundary line adjustment, roughly $40K into the house, flipped it to an owner-occupant, which effectively made the buildable lot free. A fourplex physically fit, but the fourth unit would have triggered full frontage improvements (curb, gutter, sidewalk) plus an ADA unit, so the math told us to build the duplex instead. I like to have the math tell me what to do. Refinanced out all our money plus about $150,000, cash flowed about $1,000 a month, and later sold and 1031-exchanged into a 14-unit out of state. It sat on the MLS for 45 days before we bought it. Nobody else wanted it. ## What Things Cost Per Foot Costs vary wildly by region and finish level, so anchor points rather than gospel: a garage conversion runs $80,000 to $150,000 all-in depending on energy code, egress, electrical, and plumbing. Our ground-up DADU cost is close to $250 per square foot, helped by years of sub relationships; duplexes come in slightly lower per foot thanks to economies of scale on roofing, insulation, and paint. And the Midwest paradox: cheapest labor in the country, but ARVs so low the finished product is often worth only what it cost to build. The screen that protects you: duplex values around $500K+ with all-in build costs capped near $275-300K ([where to find lots like that](/blog/hidden-density/)). ## What Went Wrong (So You Can Plan For It) Honest ledger, same projects. The shop conversion's permitting took 12 months, including 5 months lost to a structural engineer, because almost nobody wants to touch existing-structure work ("we'll help you if you want to build new"). The city didn't penalize the shop's unpermitted history but required full current-code compliance, including energy code, which meant furring up and building a floor over the concrete slab: about $7,000 nobody budgeted. The fixes we now use on every project: bid structural engineers wide (we emailed about 17 of them; quotes for the same few pages of calcs ranged $8,000 down to $2,300) and always ask turnaround time alongside price, because a $300-cheaper engineer who's four weeks out is expensive. Use a drafter instead of an architect when under four units and the municipality allows it: our duplex plans cost $450 from our drafter against $9,000 architect quotes, delivered in days. And buy in winter: sellers who've sat get realistic (we tied up a deal $30,000 under asking the day before the December call), permits process over spring, you build all summer, and the product hits the market in early fall. How we pay for all of this without touching our low-rate first mortgages is [its own article](/blog/financing-builds/). ## FAQ **Q: How much does it cost to build a DADU?** A: Our ground-up cost runs near $250 per square foot in Washington with established sub relationships; garage conversions run $80,000-150,000 all-in. Regional labor, finish level, and code requirements (especially energy code) swing these materially. **Q: Is build-to-rent profitable for small investors?** A: Our four current infill projects created roughly $325,000 to $550,000 of equity each, at 14-32% unlevered returns on cost. The margin comes from owning or cheaply controlling the land and building only where finished values comfortably exceed build costs. **Q: What are the biggest risks in small-scale building?** A: Permitting timelines (our conversion took 12 months to permit), slow structural engineers, code surprises on conversions, and unit-count thresholds that trigger expensive requirements like frontage improvements and ADA units. Bid vendors wide and let the math pick the unit count. **Q: Why call a duplex "stacked ADUs"?** A: Classification drives fees. As ADUs, one of our projects avoids sewer and water capacity fees entirely and pays about half the traffic and park fees, roughly $40,000 saved on an identical building. Ask your planner what each label costs before you apply for permits. If you want to run your own build the way we do, the Build-to-Rent Strategy Package on my [free resources and downloads](/resources-downloads/) page includes the specs list and budget sheet I use to keep these projects on track. * * * _This article is educational and reflects my own projects and markets. It isn't financial advice, and past results don't predict future ones. Run your own conservative numbers and consult the right professionals before building._ Addicted to ROI is education and community, not financial or tax advice. Talk to a qualified professional before making investment or tax decisions. ![Jennifer Beadles](/images/founders.jpg) Jennifer Beadles Real estate entrepreneur with 17 years of hands-on investing experience. Built an 8-figure rental portfolio across multiple states and has helped thousands of investors build passive income through the Addicted to ROI community. The tool that goes with this ## The software that does this for you [ Deal analysis DoorProfit Type in a price and watch cash flow, cash-on-cash, cap rate and NOI move in real time, then save, compare and share underwriting across your whole pipeline. Analyze a deal ↗ ](https://doorprofit.com)[ Agent match Agents Invest Tell us the market and the strategy, and we match you with a vetted, investor-friendly agent who knows how to run a rental analysis, not just sell you a house. Match me with an agent ↗ ](https://agentsinvest.com) Before you close the tab ## Get the next one in your inbox. One email per new article, the day it goes up. No wall, no spam, unsubscribe in a click. [Subscribe, free →](/newsletter/)[Run a deal in the calculator](/tools/deal-analysis-calculator/) Read next [ ![How to Renovate a Rental You've Never Seen in Person](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1581578731548-c64695cc6952?w=800&q=80) Investment Strategies ### How to Renovate a Rental You've Never Seen in Person 10 min read → ](/blog/renovate-out-of-state/)[ ![How to Determine Fair Market Rent in a Market You Don't Live In](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554469384-e58fac16e23a?w=800&q=80) Deal Analysis ### How to Determine Fair Market Rent in a Market You Don't Live In 8 min read → ](/blog/fair-market-rent/)[ ![The Questions to Ask Before You Buy in a Market You Don't Live In](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1423666639041-f56000c27a9a?w=800&q=80) Due Diligence ### The Questions to Ask Before You Buy in a Market You Don't Live In 9 min read → ](/blog/market-call-questions/) If you like this ## Read these next Hand-picked to go deeper on real estate. [![How to Renovate a Rental You've Never Seen in Person](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1581578731548-c64695cc6952?w=800&q=80) Real Estate ### How to Renovate a Rental You've Never Seen in Person 10 min read](/blog/renovate-out-of-state/) [![How to Determine Fair Market Rent in a Market You Don't Live In](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554469384-e58fac16e23a?w=800&q=80) Real Estate ### How to Determine Fair Market Rent in a Market You Don't Live In 8 min read](/blog/fair-market-rent/) [![The Questions to Ask Before You Buy in a Market You Don't Live In](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1423666639041-f56000c27a9a?w=800&q=80) Real Estate ### The Questions to Ask Before You Buy in a Market You Don't Live In 9 min read](/blog/market-call-questions/) [![How to Invest Out of State Without Getting Burned (The One Trap)](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1500382017468-9049fed747ef?w=800&q=80) Real Estate ### How to Invest Out of State Without Getting Burned (The One Trap) 8 min read ](/blog/invest-out-of-state/) Off to go build something. Go build yours.  ~ Jennifer © 2026 Addicted to ROI. Education and community, not financial or tax advice. [Contact Us](/contact/) · [Privacy Policy](/privacy/) · [Terms and Conditions](/terms/) Explore: [Travel](/pillars/travel/) · [Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/) · [Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/) · [Business](/pillars/business/) Free tools: [Deal Analysis Calculator](/tools/deal-analysis-calculator/) · [Cost Segregation Calculator](/cost-seg-calculator/) · [Average Stay Calculator](/average-stay-calculator/) · [Vehicle Deduction Calculator](/vehicle-deduction-calculator/) · [Free Downloads](/resources-downloads/) [Agents Invest](https://agentsinvest.com) · [DoorProfit](https://doorprofit.com) · [REPS Time](https://repstime.com) · [STR Loophole](https://strhours.com) · [Kids Payroll](https://kidspayroll.com) · [RentStager](https://rentstager.com)