Hi, friends. It's Danny with ADU Resource Center, and today, we're in La Puente with Lisa Peacock. Lisa, thank you for allowing us to come into your open, uh, your ADU today. We're gonna do an open house, invite some of our, uh, clients in. But let's kinda go back in the beginning. We're gonna be inserting pictures in here so they'll get, get to see what the, the ADU looks like. But I think you and I met at the bus, at, at the ADU bus tour, did we not? Where you were co- No, be- before that. I think it was the, um, you had an open house in Los Angeles, some Inglewood area, somewhere over there. Yeah, Christopher Morris. It was... What was it, Seventh, 78th Street? Yes, yes. I don't know why I say 78th. That's Inglewood, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, in the Inglewood area. And, um, I actually found you on TikTok. Did you? Yeah. I was, I do a lot of scrolling. Right. So I was scrolling through, and I kept seeing ADUs come up, ADUs. And I had thought about it in the past like, "I got a big backyard. I don't use my backyard, and a little extra money might be nice." So this will be supplemental income. Yes. It'll, it'll be a rental. Yes, it's gonna be a rental, yes. How long were you thinking about it before you said, "It's time"? I think I'd been thinking about it for several years. Yeah. And then once I kept seeing these videos come up, and I said, "You know what? Let me just put my name in there and see what happens from that point." So I, I just, I don't know if I... I, I think I signed up for an open house. It said you had an open house- Yeah, yeah ... in the Los Angeles area. Yeah. And I think I signed up for that. I think vid- I think videos are great. Mm-hmm. And this is obviously gonna be a video. Mm-hmm. But there's nothing like walking inside one. Mm-hmm. So when you walk inside one, like the people are gonna do today- Mm-hmm ... thank you for, uh, letting them see your ADU, I think they get a sense, well, look, um, this is what it's gonna look like. This is fantastic. Mm-hmm. I can't even imagine this in my backyard. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And the last time I saw this backyard, this wasn't here. Right, right. As, I mean, I, I walked in this morning- Right ... and I'm going, "Oh, my God. There's an ADU back there." Right. It looks fantastic. Right. And it turned out super, super cool. So what, couple of things I wanted to just kinda talk about. You didn't build a studio. You didn't build a one-bedroom. You built a two-bedroom. Mm-hmm. Right? Right. And it's two baths. Right. And it's not a flat ceiling. It's a vaulted ceiling, right? Mm-hmm, right. So did all of these things come out of... Di- did you just decide along the way, or did you just kind of pick up some tips, uh, on your own? I, I think as I was thinking about it, what would be most beneficial in the supplemental income, I just decided that two bedrooms would be nice, but not one bathroom. I said, "Two bedrooms, two bath," because you can always rent it out to, you know, separate people or whatever. Right, right. And they would all have their own space. Right. So I was looking at that, thinking about the income that I could generate from having two bedrooms and two baths, so that's why I went with that. And it looks like we're close to finishing the box, the unit itself. Mm-hmm. And then the next phase would be the landscaping- Right, right ... on the outside and finishing it off. Mm-hmm. So, um, you and I'll be talking more about that. The landscaping, yes. And I've g- well, I've got some ideas for you as well- Mm-hmm ... to pretty it up. But, um, tell me, when you started designing with this, um, you're gonna be... I, I know that the people that are just watching the video that are starting are kinda like, "Oh, look, what do I know about design?" Mm-hmm. "Who... I can't design. I know nothing about architecture. I know nothing about construction." Mm-hmm. "I know I want one, but I don't wanna make a mistake." Were you nervous in the beginning? Yeah. Oh, definitely, definitely real nervous- ... thinking about what I, what could go wrong. I, I tend to think about, okay, if I start this and it falls apart, what happens? Where do I go from here? But just trusting you guys and trusting the process was really good. And I went to your office. I brought a friend with me, of course. And we, and we had discussed before we, we got there, you know, what was I looking for, what did I want. So I had to bring backup with me, so I brought her with me. And we basically, we went through, you d- help, you put it up on that big screen. Yeah. And we could visualize what it would look like. So we start off with templates. Mm-hmm. Templates are just simply floor plans we've done for clients. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And then we try to pick something close. Doesn't have to be 100%. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And then we edit it. Right, right. We modify it. We move things around and add things. Mm-hmm. And you said, "Well, I want one of these. I want one of those." Mm-hmm. And then all of a sudden, it's up on the screen, and it's in 3D. Right. And you're going, "Oh, my God. There it is." Right. "Looking pretty good," right? Right, 'cause I remember the first, the first diagram or picture that I saw, it was like, uh, that's not really it. And there was only one door, and I was like, "Uh, no, I gotta have a couple of doors in there." Right. And we went in, and we added the doors. We added the, you know, the sliding glass door on the side or whatever, just knowing that, you know, looking at it, that you can add and you can take away, and, and that even during the building process, sometimes things didn't look right to me. And I was like, "You know what? We need to discuss that"- Yeah, yeah ... or whatever. So it, it was a good process. The neat thing about building a- Mm-hmm ... an ADU is that you can m- you can kind of freestyle while you're designing it. Mm-hmm. And even when we're done, and we, and now all of a sudden, the construction begins- Mm-hmm ... our contracting teams are pretty flexible. You can even improvise a little bit on the fly, too. Mm-hmm. As long as we're not moving a load-bearing wall- Right, right ... or anything like that. Right. But if you said, "Hey, I was thinking about it. You think I can get one of these?" Mm-hmm. Usually it's no problem. Right, right. So it, it's pretty fun. Um, any advice now that you are considered an expert? Eh. 'Cause you're finished. You're, you're almost at the finish line, so now you- I'm almost at the finish line, right there, yeah ... so now you're considered an expert. What advice for beginners, people that know they want one, and they are scared or they're nervous, but they know they're determined to do it? How would you say would the best way to start? I think just doing your research. Um, go to some of your open houses. Visit, visit other ADUs around your area. Take a look at them. Talk to the people, and trust the process. It was a long process, but trust the process. Right, and it's worth it in the end. Mm-hmm, it is. It's kind of like, uh, you know, having a baby, I'm told, you know? You don't remember the labor pains. You just love the end result. You, yeah, you just love the results. Yeah. That's right.The transition from designing and the city planning phase into the construction phase, was that a smooth transition? Actually, it was. It was very smooth. Because it's not like I'm doing any work. I, I'm not doing any work. Right. I'm just there and say, "Okay, yeah, let's do it. Go ahead." Right. "That's a good idea." And we gave you multiple contractors- Right ... that were vetted that you could choose from, and we gave you profiles- Right ... samples of their work. Mm-hmm. So that g- allows you to- Mm-hmm ... feel like you're doing your due diligence- Mm-hmm ... and shopping a little bit. And right, and that takes away a lot of the fear, because you don't know contractors. But since you guys have already vetted them- Yeah ... I don't have to sit there and go through 10, 12 people and say, you know. And, and sometimes, you know, when you're on your own and you're trying to do something, um, contractors are pushy sometimes. But since you guys already did the legwork, I- Yeah ... and, and I, you know, I could trust you guys, you know, at this point, it's like, okay. Well, we've done 600 projects now in- Mm-hmm ... Southern California since COVID, since 2020. Mm-hmm. And we needed helping hands, so we had to vet through 80 contracting teams. Mm-hmm. And of the 80 that we vetted, 60 were rejected. Mm-hmm. That's how many bad contracting teams- Mm-hmm ... are out there, but- Mm ... the 20 that we have are the best of the best. Right. And I think what we try to do is pick, let's, let me pick my top five for you. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And let's start with five. Mm-hmm. We got more, but these people, in your case, in the city of La Puente- Mm ... they understand the, the, the- Right ... the planning phase and the permitting phase- Mm-hmm ... and the city inspection phase. Mm-hmm. And I thought you would click well with- Mm ... with these five, and you selected- Mm-hmm ... Fixifi Construction- Right ... so I'm happy for you. Right. Right. Um, we've got a couple of tweaks. I noticed a couple of things. I know you saw a couple of things. Mm-hmm. Right. So I think Jonathan and his, his, uh, team w- will be here today. Uh, I'll be chatting with them, and let's- Mm ... kind of check a couple of more boxes- Right. Right ... before we get to the finish line. But short of that, I mean, if you have any... Did you learn anything along the way that you didn't know? I think, yeah, I know all about ADUs now- ... or whatever. And I have people that are, you know, my friend has a friend who's building an ADU, and she's trying to do it on her own. So every time I mention something, she says, "Oh, let me call my friend and tell her. Let me..." And I say, "You really need somebody. You really need a resource center." I said, "It will take so much of the pressure off of you. You're trying to do it by yourself. Find you a good resource center." And, and then I give them your number. Oh, that's awesome. Or whatever. Well, listen, one last question. Mm-hmm. If you did it all over again- Mm-hmm ... would you still recommend ADU Resource Center? Of course. At a- Obviously. All right. Obviously. Well, congratulations, Lisa. And if you'd like to build your own ADU, call the number below.