Hi, friends. It's Danny with ADU Resource Center, and today, we are in Long Beach, and we are talking with Rochelle and Louis and Michael from ADU Resource Center. And thank you for inviting us out. Thank you. We had an open house today on your 400 square foot detached one bedroom, one bath. And I have to be honest, no joke, and you've, we've been talking about this all day, this is probably the nicest ADU showing we've done yet. Just, and it's not because we designed it, it's because what you guys put into it and how you, uh, staged it. So we're gonna talk about all that stuff. But, um, uh, over here across from me is Michael. And Michael, you were part of the design team, the, the inspiration that got them going? Yeah. So I started out with these folks, uh, little less than a year ago. And we had some... W- we wanted to go out and visit an ADU, and to discover what an ADU might look like, and what it would look, m- how... Sorry. It, it's okay. Totally about this. We can edit that out. Um- Keep going. Just pick up where you, you went to visit the Los Angeles ADU. So we went over to go and visit an ADU together in Los Angeles. It was a studio. And they saw it, and it was absolutely amazing. They thought that it was the... Sorry. We'll fade in, fade out. Is that good? No, we're... Okay. So we're not gonna dwell so much on that one. Mm-hmm. We just know that that was helpful in reinforcing the fact that they wanted to do one of their own. Sure. So we went out to visit an ADU, uh, in Los Angeles, and they were inspired by this garage conversion and wanted to do one of their own. Uh, and this translated into their beautiful ADU in their backyard. Awesome. So tell me this. We started about how long ago? Uh, this whole process has been about, uh, just over- Last November. Yeah, last November. So it's been, uh, uh... Originally, it was supposed to be about a 90-day project. It was about, uh, about 100 day, w- 120, 1- 120 days. But so, uh, th- from the design, the conceptual design, the city process, and now the construction, 'cause it is done- Yes Right ... about almost a year, right? Right. Right. So the whole process, yeah, almost about a year. Okay. W- um, let's talk about the very beginning. When you had your backyard, did you know where you were gonna put it? Did you ha- know the left side of the backyard was where it was going to be, or did it just kind of unfold? No. Just, uh, after talking with, uh, with Mike, you know, and they did the design, and, um, kind of laid everything out for us and told us what was possible. And, uh, you know, they, w- we didn't have any idea where... We thought it would be more closer to the house. Now, we didn't, you know, we didn't know exactly where to go. And, and there was a small problem because there was a structure in the way, which we're gonna insert into this video, called a we-shed. And a, not a he-shed or a she-shed, it's a we-shed- Yeah ... because it's so cool that we both want it, right? Yes. Right. Correct. Okay. So we had to relocate that, and they did a pretty good job of moving that- Yes ... without breaking it. Right. Exactly. A- and so now this is the location. So now inside, when you decided how big, because you have room to go as big as you want, how did you decide that 400 square foot, one bedroom, one bath was the goal? Well, after talking with Mike, we, we sat down and, uh, he showed us different options. We sat down on a, a computer screen. He did some graphic stuff. And we went, uh, we were toggling between 400 and 500, I think it was, for one. Yeah. 400 and 500, whether we wanted to go that. And 400 just made more sense for what, what we wanted to do, pricing wise and everything. It was, uh, uh, within the budget that we wanted. Got it. Um, and it was, um- Okay. It was, it was the better choice. And the video's gonna be rolling in the background, and everybody's gonna be bugging us, going, "Well, you didn't say how much." So the project price was about $180,000. Now, if we built that today, that's about current with what a... You probably got a little bit better deal, because yours was built last season. But that's about the going rate. But- Yeah ... as the video is going to show, rolling around, looking at the project, it's worth every dime. So let's talk about a couple of cool things. You wanna know what was the most important thing that everybody commented today on the open house? Yes. What was that? What do you think? Uh, my guess is, uh, there's probably two of them. One of them, this amazing kitchen, and the other one, vaulted ceilings. I think when you walk into this space and you look up and you go, "Whoa, this is so big," and that's simply because the, the vaulted ceiling makes a small space feel huge. Right. It's voluminous. Right. So let's just imagine that 400 square feet is the size of a typical two-car garage. So if you walked in your garage, and you see there's a car on the right and a car on the left, well, that's kind of what we've got. We've got a car on the right and a car on the left. So the, the challenge is, is when you put a wall down the middle of it, is it going to close it off? And sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. That's why people sometimes opt for an open concept studio. But in this case, we lost that illusion. It doesn't feel small because of the ceiling. So fantastic job. So it's a 12-foot vaulted ceiling, a, a four-feet riser above the eight-foot top plate. And that was the first thing everybody said. They go, "Oh my God, I didn't realize it was gonna be this big inside." The second thing was they, everybody fell in love with the kitchen. Right. Uh, I didn't get a chance to show off the refrigerator- Right ... that has a radio and a camera. Yeah. But two people did say, "Is that camera on? Is that actually what's in the refrigerator?" Yeah. Um, and then the bedroom, they fell in love with the bed and the closet, the barn doors. Good job on that. I know that was your thing. Yes. And somebody actually pulled out the lower bed. And to see that, they go, "Oh, you know what we can do with this?" So the little wheel is going on in their head. Right. So I can tell you that-I think a lot of people said, "We want one exactly like this." I go, "Well, you're gonna have to talk to my man over here to furnish it," because they- they- they were saying, "You guys did a great job." I go, "We didn't do none of this stuff. That was all him." Sorry. All right, so let's talk a little bit about the- the- the- the design and stuff. You knew what you wanted. You and I talked earlier this morning, and you said the kitchen, uh, was a lot of your concept. You decided that you wanted to go full-size appliances, not ADU-size appliances. Right, right. And that's a good call. So I don't think we're short on cabinet space. The downside using, um, full-size appliances is will we run out of cabinet space, and I think you're doing good. You got plenty. Right, right. So when we talked, uh, like I said, when we sat down and we looked at the design, um, uh, Michael had a lot of ideas, and w- and we talked about that, about full-size appliances and things like that. And, um, we thought that was the- the better choice for, uh, the type of clients that we want to get. We wanted, you know, uh, for the- This is a rental ... it's gonna be a rental. Okay. Yeah, and so instead of having the smaller appliances, we wanted to go with full-size on it, and it's... Yeah, and it worked out good. It was- It- it- it worked out really, really well. Everybody that asks about the fireplace who goes, "Does the fireplace really work?" I go, "It really does." Yeah, it throws heat. It's not... It does throw out heat. So everybody's going, "Wow, I've never seen that before." Yeah. So, so let's talk about the experience through design. You designed it through ADU Resource Center. Good decision? Yes. Okay. Definitely a good decision. Uh, I've- I've seen a number of places on, you know, online, in the Internet and stuff like that, and, uh, Rochelle had talked back and forth, uh, I think, with Mike a few times. Mm-hmm. And then we decided, hey, let's, you know, let's- let's go give this a try. And so, um, he came out, looked around, did some measurements, and then after that, we were, we went in office, right? Yep. To- to actually sit down and- With- with Cherise. You sat down in- With Cherise ... in the- in the conference room. Yeah. And- And it was pretty amazing to see, though, with that, uh, computer graphic, just to move things around. She's quick. So, yeah, it was quick. Yeah. And just to, you know, shuffle things around to get things down to scale and get the actual measurements- Right ... uh, that- that the, uh, measuring team had came out and took and put it all into play, to see it come together like that was, it was... Now, we have a lot of Long Beach clients, um, that we're currently working with, a lot, e- even more, that are thinking about doing it, and one of the things that... I don't know why this question comes up a lot. They go, "How is Long Beach city to deal with, with regard to plans?" Did we have any problems with Long Beach that we know of? No, Long Beach was incredibly fast with this. Uh, in comparison to some of the other cities around Los Angeles, this particular ADU project flew through planning. Uh, there was only a few little de- you know, a few departments along the way that we had to get our clearances from, and but overall, time-wise, one of the fastest cities to work with. When the planning and permitting was done, the hand-off to construction, a smooth process? Very smooth process. I don't, I think, um, they were on time. There was not any delays in the, uh, the time. I remember, I've heard of people say, "Oh, I'm delayed, weeks waiting on, you know, to get permitted," and things like that, but everything was to scale, uh, down to the date. Every date they came out, we passed every, uh, every- Inspection ... inspection. There was no hiccups. There was nothing. It was... You know, I heard it put one time, there is no such thing as happy construction experience. There's only terrible and not so bad, you know, so we're trying to shoot for not so bad. We don't want to avoid terrible, but every now and then, we do hear that there is such a thing as a good construction experience, so I hope it was for you. I think we had a good con- there was no, I mean, the, uh, the actual general contractor, when we called him, he picked up the phone. He was very, uh, helpful with anything. Uh, anything we asked for, right away he'd remember. He'd come out and he'd do it. We'd come the next day, "Oh, it's done. Oh, he did it." And, uh, um, that was one of the things I liked, that, you know, they, sometimes you get construction, people disappear. And you're calling them, you're looking for them. No, they were here every day. They worked. They was there. Wonderful. Staying in constant communication with us. Tell me this. For the people that are watching, we've got a lot of people that think they're gonna start an ADU. Did you know much about this before you started? Because a lot of people watching go, "I'm not qualified. I know nothing about construction. Who am, who are we to think that we can build an ADU?" So what advice would you have for them? We- we, and Rochelle can chime in, we knew nothing about construction or building a ADU or anything. Uh, Michael was very instrumental in that. We would call him. He, and he explained a lot of things about what the process was, and it was just step by step. You know, uh, as far as thinking, w- in the beginning, it was like, "Can we afford this?" And, you know, we don't have a lot of money. It was, it was, we were able to- And it was originally your idea to do the ADU, correct? Correct. So your idea, and I asked you this question earlier, but I'm gonna ask you it one more time. In the beginning, it's a, a little bit of a intimidating decision to go f- forward with it, but at some point, you say, "Well, I guess we're going to do it." And I think you said it was once you s- figured out the financing was gonna be approved, that made you feel better, right? Yes, exactly. And after we were approved for the, um, financing, everything just fell into place and went very smoothly, so we felt like it was the right thing to do. And I think in the beginning of any project, when you don't know what you don't know, it starts out slow, but it does pick up pace and momentum, and you kind of find your rhythm, don't you, along the way? Right. Yeah. So it, the, what was very helpful was the communication. That's what, that was, that was key, the communication. We felt safe at all times. We- we knew exactly what was gonna happen before it happened. Everything was explained, and it was step by step, and it just, everything fell into place, one after the other. That's great. What would you do...Now that you're almost done, you've got one box to check, and that's the certificate of occupancy. Now, that allows you to legally rent it, right? Right. That's the last box checked, right? Right. So when that's done, and you're finished, what advice would you give for people that are saying, "I'm at the bottom of Mount Everest, looking up"? You guys are now at the top. It's over. Your journey's done. What about the people that are starting out? What w- recommendations would you give for people that are saying, "I think I want to do it. I'm pretty sure. I'm almost positive I want to do it, but I'm scared." What I would s- well, as far as being scared, I- I, like I said, we, we knew nothing about it. Uh, the communication is there. Um, we knew exactly what was gonna happen, so it, it kind of took away the fear. Um, and my advice is, if you have an idea, or you want to go with something, uh, actually just go with that 'cause like now we're thinking, "We should've done two of these," or, "We should've..." You know, um, or maybe went a two bedroom or went larger, whatever. But, uh, this one's nice. So we, we, we love it, and just go for exactly what, what you want, what your heart desires. What about you? If you, from a woman's perspective, and we have a... I have to tell you, women are... We get more clients that are driving the project from the, the female side than men. Men goes, "Talk to her. It's her idea. She wants to do it." But the women seem to be the ones that are all gung-ho about starting. So I'm gonna say that you probably pushed him to do this, right? Um, what would you tell the women watching this video if they have an instinct, or maybe they think they have a feeling they would like to do it. Um, what's the, what's the recommendation if they are saying, "I don't know that I'm even qualified to, to do this because I'm gonna have to trust someone because I don't know, I've never done one before"? Now you guys have done one. The next one'll be e- even easier, but the first one, what would you tell somebody that, from a, a woman's perspective, that they should be, want to think about? Um, I think the ADU Resource Center was, um, very comforting. Um, like Louis said, we felt safe the entire process. Mike is very helpful, and he was always there to assist us and answer any questions that we had. So, once he connected us with the contractors and everything, and the, um, architect, Charisse, she was very, very helpful. Um, like Louis said, once, looking at the scanning and everything that she did with the computer, it was just so amazing to really bring it to visualization for us. And after that, everything, once, like you said, they go through the city, the permits and everything. After that, everything was completed by April. They broke ground, and it was less than 120 days we were able to come in, sit down, and have it furnished and everything. So I would say if you have the idea, you have the space and the land, it's an excellent opportunity. I think Louis and I are more excited with this than we were when we purchased our home because- Yeah ... it's so beautiful. Absolutely. We were able to pick out- Actually ... everything. Yeah, actually. So it's been a wonderful experience, and I would encourage anybody to go for it. Yeah, we actually are more excited with this than when we actually purchased the house. And then, um, it's been an awesome experience, you know, and, um, I'm telling you, ADU Resource Center, you guys, you guys hit it right on, and it's, uh, it's, uh- Thank you ... it was amazing. It was amazing journey. Yes. No hiccups. We didn't have any. We have neighbors that built, and they're, they have nightmares. Yeah. We didn't have any of that. We passed up... There's, uh, three other builds going on. We passed everybody up. Everybody. And they started a year before us. Yes. And we, we passed everybody up, and they're going, "Man, they're finished already." Yes. You know, and it just, you, you guys are the, you guys are the pros. That's it. Well, thank you for the kind words. Um, do you have anything that you want to add? Well, I'd love to talk about the, uh, the, the, the process here. If we, if we started from the beginning, we came together, we met, we had a conversation. Right. And then from that conversation, we got to go and see an ADU, and then from that, we had inspiration. We went to the architectural office. We got to go and develop the plans from the ground up. Uh, we got to see everything develop in 3D, and- Right ... from there, architectural team takes care of their work in the background, and all finished with ready to issue permits. Once we got those permits, boom, we're ready to start construction right away, and our construction is very thorough. It's very timely, and we were able to execute this entire project in less than a year. I think making sure that our timeline from the time that we get started to completion in a quick and detailed timeline is key to the client's happiness here. Yeah. Yes. Well, I appreciate you for letting us visit your ADU, where everybody was blown away. They're very, very impressed. Our clients want to know if there's a chance that we can come back one more time before you get the certificate of occupancy. We may want to show it, just because it's so lovely. Yeah. So thank you again. Yeah. All right. We love it so much that we don't even want to rent it out, so. All right. Well, thank you. Well, that's it from, uh, Long Beach today. If you want to build your own ADU, call the number below.