Don’t force it. If it doesn’t come easily, it may not be the right time to handle it. I used to force myself to do specific tasks even if I didn’t want to; I would often end up “fighting” it and taking longer than I really needed to. Now when I’m not motivated by something, I move to something else. By delaying the task, I may gain more context that makes it feel easier to do… or simply decide it is unnecessary.
In many large cities in the US, there is a crisis caused by a shortage of affordable housing options. This has led to a host of social challenges. In this series called “How We Are Helping To Make Housing More Affordable” We are talking to successful business leaders, real estate leaders, and builders, who share the initiatives they are undertaking to create more affordable housing options in the US.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Whitney Hill.
Whitney is the co-founder and CEO of SnapADU, a general contractor focused on designing & building accessory dwelling units (ADUs or “granny flats”) in San Diego, California. Previously, she spent several years as a developer of high-end homes in New Jersey. Before turning to real estate, Whitney built a decade of strategic and tactical experience working as a management consultant at Bain & Company and as an operations manager for an industrial supply distributor.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
It took me a while to find my passion. I grew up in a small Kansas town and never quite fit in. I was fortunate to have parents who supported me doing big things. I left for college at Yale and have lived on the coasts or abroad ever since.
I spent the first decade of my career building business skills & experience in generalist roles, first in operations management and then in management consulting. I was often passionate about what I was doing, loved working with the best and brightest, and reveled in tackling complex business problems. But at some point, I wanted to see what I could achieve on my own & in a space I was genuinely excited about: real estate.
I left Bain in 2016 to focus on small multi-family redevelopment, but soon pivoted to high-end flips in New York City commuter towns after finding a solid general contractor to partner with. During this experience, I built a strong understanding of residential contracting operations. I began building out processes and systems, working on our projects remotely after a move to San Diego.
When I learned of monumental changes to California regulation that promoted the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs or “granny flats”), I knew general contracting would be the bottleneck of development. I kept an ear out for anyone in the ADU space and fortuitously crossed paths with a local general contractor who had more than a decade of experience building and renovating high end homes. He was beginning to focus more of his business on building ADUs in response to the regulation changes. Our complementary skill sets helped us scale quickly to become the most recognized name in the ADU space in San Diego.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Early in my real estate career, our renovation of a derelict six-unit apartment building stalled as we discovered the renovation costs were going to far exceed estimates (shocker!). In the meantime, the delay led to being sued by the city on environmental grounds for not addressing building code violations.
I managed to sell the property with the lawsuit attached. After that experience, I learned to step back from any emotion tied up in the business and just focus on the next steps of what needs to happen. Things that seem scary are just another challenge to tackle.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
The tipping point where we started to see success in building SnapADU was when we honed our focus. In the beginning, we were bidding on anything ADU-related. This meant it was hard to create repeatable models and standard procedures that could be handed off to an employee. So my partner and I were constantly working “in” the business instead of “on” the business.
We started clearly defining our ideal type of project and referring the rest out to other contractors. In doing so, we could focus on building the content, skills, and systems to serve “our” clients better than anyone else could. It can feel limiting at first to focus on a niche, but concentration allows a company to more quickly build expertise.
Shrinking the universe of work we would tackle allowed us to get really good at those core skills. Once we could develop and document processes, we could assign tasks to employees or contractors, freeing up management time to build the business.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My mom has stepped up during pivotal points in my life to reflect my thoughts back to me so that I can make hard decisions. Never judgmental, she asks the questions I need to answer for myself to get to a resolution.
Even with something as simple as, “what’s the worst that could happen,” she consistently instilled the feeling that I could tackle anything I faced. And she made the selfless choice to support decisions that ultimately led me to take paths different than her own. I ended up thousands of miles away.
But my mom never wanted me to wonder, “what if?” She knew that I would be more haunted by the things I didn’t do than by the things I did take a chance on. I feel so grateful to have had her perspective, even more so now that I am a mother to a son and daughter. I strive to give them the freedom they need to find what it is that lights them up.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed with Happiness by Emily Esfahani Smith laces together fascinating research and compelling stories in a thesis on the four pillars that comprise meaning. The book resonated with me during a time when I was trying to understand why I wasn’t satisfied with what seemed to be a perfect life.
My focus had often been on checking the next box on the list of “things that a traditionally successful person does.” I experienced a lot of guilt for having so much to be grateful for in my life, yet feeling deep down this couldn’t be “it.”
The Power of Meaning highlights many different perspectives on what promotes meaning, drawing from studies and anecdotes. After reading the book, I was more capable of noticing opportunities to be intentional with engaging in what brings me meaning… things both big and small.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“We will only ever live the life that we create for ourselves.” As a kid, I remember feeling like there was some broader plan and guardrails on what one “does.” But really, everyone is making it up and there are no rules.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I thrive on getting the most I can out of life. What’s the best value? How can we streamline this process? What adventure should we plan for this weekend? How can I engage my child on this topic? Can I fit in a karaoke night with my friends? I’m very intentional with my time; I want to be moving forward or doing something truly engaging and memorable.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the shortage of affordable housing. Lack of affordable housing has been a problem for a long time in the United States. But it seems that it has gotten a lot worse over the past five years, particularly in the large cities. I know this is a huge topic, but for the benefit of our readers can you briefly explain to our readers what brought us to this place? Where did this crisis come from?
In many large cities, new job growth is booming and creating sustained demand for housing. This problem has been accumulating over decades as population growth outpaced building activity. Home construction is not keeping up due to capacity constraints, rising material costs, and restrictive hurdles to development.
Regulations and tax structures create limits on residential development. Cities are often incentivized to enable commercial over residential development because of the higher tax dollars that come with commercial. Community resistance is another factor; while many people are excited about affordable housing, most don’t want that housing in their back yard.
This confluence of factors has led to astronomical rent-to-income ratios in many U.S. cities. From the 1960s to the early 2000s, the Case-Schiller U.S. National Home Price Index to Median Income ratio hovered between 4 and 5, according to Federal Reserve Bank statistics. At the peak of the housing bubble in 2005, that ratio reached 7 before dropping back down to below 5 in 2012. We are again inching up to the 6.5 range as of early 2021.
Can you describe to our readers how your work is making an impact to address this crisis? Can you share some of the initiatives you are leading to help correct this issue?
SnapADU is a builder focused exclusively on accessory dwelling units (ADUs). ADUs are small homes of 400–1200 sqft on residential zoned lots with an existing primary residence. Recent changes in state regulations have encouraged the development of ADUs in California, which has a target of building 550,000 housing units per year over the next five years.
We recognized that the design, permitting & build process for ADUs required specialization to reach the level of expertise needed to meet the growing demand. We also realized that while larger developers were not interested in infill projects (since every lot is unique), smaller mom & pop operations were not equipped to serve ADUs at scale.
SnapADU is a member of the ADU Coalition, an interdisciplinary organization serving as a resource for homeowners building ADUs and propelling construction of granny flats in California. We participate in public seminars and events to help educate homeowners on ADU regulations, financing, process, and cost. We also escalate and address broader issues we see in local jurisdictions where state laws may not be applied fairly.
Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?
I’m proud that SnapADU helps people and families live closer and be part of each other’s lives daily. The ADUs we build can bring grandparents closer to grandkids, or give handicapped dependents more independence. Especially in light of COVID, families are looking for new living options that keep loved ones closer to home. We offer families flexibility, since ADUs are versatile and meet the demands of evolving intergenerational lifestyles.
By building ADUs, we also help give families a chance to raise kids in a community they might not otherwise be able to afford. This happens in two ways. First, the family who owns the primary residence earns rental income with the ADU, bringing their effective home payment down. Additionally, the family renting the ADU is able to access the school system; the rental price point of a 1000 sqft 3BR ADU is considerably lower than the rent of an oversized single-family home.
In your opinion, what should other home builders do to further address these problems?
A very accessible action we as builders can take to address the high cost of housing is to constantly push the limits on efficiency. We can do this by embracing construction technology and smarter project management. Construction is an industry ripe for innovation; much of what is done today has been done this way for decades, and that’s not always a good thing.
Innovation doesn’t have to be flashy groundbreaking tech. Innovation can start with pushing for standardization of processes so that less overhead is required to build. A large contributor to high prices is long timelines and overages, which result from uncertainty in the build process. Days turn into weeks, and time is money. Additionally, if we can build faster, we can do a better job of keeping up with demand; lead times for contractors are inching up to months in many areas.
We need to re-think many of the age-old traditions of construction, which often involve gratuitous site visits and on-the-fly decision making. While some decisions must be made on-site, many others can be anticipated and communicated, especially using project management software. We can “front load” much of the planning work that goes into the build so that we ultimately speed up the timeline.
Can you share three things that the community and society can do to help you address the root of this crisis? Can you give some examples?
We should challenge the anachronistic American Dream of living in single family homes. As Farhad Manjoo wrote for the New York Times, “Increasing density by replacing single-family homes with multifamily ones would be a boon to our efforts to address climate change, and it would help with affordability. There is nothing especially admirable about the development of single-family zoning in America. Though the policy is now defended as a way to maintain the ineffable “local character” of neighborhoods, single-family zoning… was one of the many ways white homeowners and politicians kept African-Americans out of suburbs.”
As employers continue to be more flexible in their remote work policies, we can also be more strategic in where we are choosing to live. Commutes are no longer a constraint. When we are able to consider living in a broader geographic area — or a different region entirely — it lessens the pressure on housing.
If you had the power to influence legislation, are there laws which you would like to see introduced that might help you in your work?
Rules and regulations for planning codes are historically inaccessible and difficult to read. Private sector innovation in the fields of computational law can make these codes much more accessible. Advances in high resolution satellite imagery and digital site mapping can help overcome many of the historical constraints of assessing site-specific requirements.
Passing laws that enable homeowners & design professionals to use the same software as the municipalities approving the plans would be a huge step forward. Companies like Symbium are offering innovative technology, such as a plan check tool that reports which regulations apply, identifies forms required for submittal, and can integrate with city permitting systems. Broader adoption of this kind of a tool would cut months off of the back and forth during the planning & permitting process for housing, as well as reduce mistakes and inconsistencies.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started leading my company” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
- Always show up for the discussion. You have nothing to lose by having a conversation. In a coffee shop, I overheard two people talking about ADUs. At the time, I was in the early phases of researching ADUs. I considered introducing myself, but did not muster up the courage to do so before they left. About half an hour later, they walked back by as they were discussing the building development across the street. This time I pushed out of my comfort zone to introduce myself. That led to coffee with one of them and an introduction to my future business partner and co-founder of SnapADU.
- Know when to say no. As much as it’s important to show up for the discussions you want to be in, you also need to bail on the conversations you do not want to be in. Business is enjoyable when you are working with people you like; if you don’t get good vibes from someone, trust your gut and tactfully exit. Work is sustainable when you are not pushing beyond your limits; if you don’t have time for something, be honest with yourself and others and gracefully bow out.
- Look for collaboration, not competition. There is liberation in seeing the players in your space as potential partners instead of competitors. We started reaching out to any company that appeared above us in Google searches just to chat about what kind of work they were targeting. As a result, we had some great conversations about how we could collaborate and help each other. Often the conversations don’t end in explicit partnerships at the time, but can position you to help connect others and become open to future opportunities.
- Hire a stellar assistant. Versatile and smart people will quickly push your business to the next level, even if you’re not exactly sure what that will look like at first. They will take things off your plate so you can concentrate more of your time on building the business. They will also serve as a forcing function to keep you on track with delegating responsibility. I hired our project coordinator not knowing yet what our processes would be that she would run. In the end, we designed much of them together, which meant she became extremely engaged in the process and quickly brought us much further than I could have alone.
- Don’t force it. If it doesn’t come easily, it may not be the right time to handle it. I used to force myself to do specific tasks even if I didn’t want to; I would often end up “fighting” it and taking longer than I really needed to. Now when I’m not motivated by something, I move to something else. By delaying the task, I may gain more context that makes it feel easier to do… or simply decide it is unnecessary.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would call the movement “Do You Really Need It?” The purpose would be to challenge many of the consumer-driven habits Americans have developed. From overpriced coffee to indulgent “must have” items or discretionary services, we have internalized marketing messages like “I deserve it” and “treat yourself” without realizing it. Consumers are trained to live month-to-month, constantly upsold on a lifestyle where “we work jobs we hate so we can buy things we don’t need.”
“Do You Really Need It” would be about questioning habits — spending, eating, consuming — that don’t truly bring us value. The movement would help cultivate the joy of the challenge of not spending money. The pleasure of creating a unique night without overpaying for ambiance and overhead. The gratification of seeing the effects of compound interest play out. The fulfilment of just being present without needing to consume. It’s a new kind of treating yourself.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I’m fascinated by the life and teachings of psychotherapist Esther Perel. Her unique perspective on relationships, families, and work takes conversations on her podcasts in directions that often challenge preconceptions. I also admire that she is a self-made expert in her field, harnessing her own strengths to push boundaries.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Check us out online at www.SnapADU.com for information on ADUs in San Diego. Follow us on Instagram @snap.adu and on Facebook.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.
Whitney Hill of SnapADU: How We Are Helping To Make Housing More Affordable was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.