Modern ADU in Venice, CA

Hi, friends. It's Danny Johnson with ADU Resource Center, and today we're in Venice Beach with the Bhaktar family, who just finished their two-story ADU, two bedrooms, three bathrooms. And congratulations on your completion, and I just want to say thank you for allowing us to have an open house today. Thank you. Okay. Now, before we get started, uh, I want to find out, I think I asked, uh, off-camera, n- what was here before? You said it was a small, small rec room. So the... It was an attached rec room, uh, attached to the detached garage, about 600 square feet. And Steve Gomez is, you're the d- you're the designer with ADU Resource Center. You're their project manager. And Karen and Elmer are the contr- uh, contractors with Danix Construction. I'm sorry, should have introduced you guys sooner. Okay, continue. So it was, uh, an original, uh, a 600 square feet, um, rec room attached to the detached garage- Okay ... single story. So, single story, okay. So with real estate a premium at the Beach Cities, we knew that we, to get the space, we have to go up, right? Yes. Was there any problem getting the permit for a s- a two story in this neighborhood? No. The, one of the issues that we were trying to aim for was to anticipate a possible, uh, a strategize for future development in the future. Okay. So this is why we kind of detached it away from the garage originally. Typically it was gonna be, uh, a simple garage expansion or even a garage, a detached garage. But then it actually would limit them in the future to do any future, uh, development down the line. Got it. So this is the strategy that we ended up doing- Right ... a detached two story, and Mr. Hazbuk was really adamant that he really wanted his two parkings and their own private space. Right. And I think we s- we agreed that it's gonna be a rental. This is maybe one of the nicest rentals I've seen because the trend that we're seeing more recently is that our ADUs are getting so nice now, when people come... Now watch, today, when some of these people come in, they go, "This is an ADU?" I go, "Yeah. What were you expecting, a Home Depot shed?" And they go, "Maybe, but if it's this nice, I should live in it and I rent my house out." So a lot of people that are building ADUs now are flip-flopping. They're renting the main house and living in the brand new ADU. But you guys, for sure, you're gonna rent it out probably? From day one, yes. It was rental for almost 25 year- Yeah ... with this old one. Yeah. And, uh, I was kind of enjoying it, that rent and so forth. Yeah. And he came in and, Steve, uh, "Hey, we, we do this, we do that." "Oh, okay, okay." He give me some design and right below that lemon tree- ... and he says, "Okay, we can do this, we can do this," and was kinda very impressive. And I said, "Possibly I can do it." So let me ask you from the beginning, how did, how did we meet you? How did you find ADU Resource Center? The open house here and there. I was coming in your, uh, open house d- That's how it starts, right? That's how I started. Nice. So- The first one I saw over there on a hill. It was with a second f- it was a detach- an attached, uh, two story ADU. Okay. And going up. So we know that there's two stages. There's the design stage and the permit with the city phase, then the contractor phase, right? Let's talk about the design phase. You've never designed an ADU before, right? Never. Were you- I, even I cannot draw myself, uh, a l- straight line. So I'm sure you were nervous, because nobody wants to make a mistake. You said, "Boy, I hope this turns out good." How did, how did Steve do for you? He was actually t- teacher, explainer and corrector, everything. Yeah. And I was, well, you know, sm- small stuff I was pulling out. "Hey, I don't like it." So he come up with a different some idea- Yeah ... and come up. He co- close it and correct it. Beautiful. Now, once- In your office I came, I think four or five times to- Oh, to our office in Glendale? Yes. Yeah. To see in the big, uh, TV- Yeah ... there, the whole s- idea and how it looks and so forth. Now, was it fun designing or scary? It was fun because I wasn't paying nothing. $900. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, once the design's done, they create engineering, then it goes to the city, and then we wait our turn to get... H- Was it a long wait to get your permit? Not really. It was, uh, very good. Okay. Reasonable. How about the transition from the design phase to the contractor phase, was that smooth? Very smooth. Within one day. Wow. Wow. He came in my house with the paper Karen printed out, so many law and- Now, in this, in this case, she's the general contractor. Yes. And he's, he, she's the in-house contractor, he's the outside contractor. No, he, she give it to him and he, he just present me, "This is my contract." I said, "Uh, you want me sign it? I, uh..." He says, "Yeah." And then I said, "How long you gonna take?" He say, "I cannot give you that proper answer because city, sometime they come fast and sometime they don't." So I say, "Oh, God. But at least give me some time." He says, "No, I cannot do, but I give fastest possible." That was his word. So when you guys started, um, h- first off, what percentage of completion are we at now? We, uh, we're done. It's finished. Okay. How about the final inspection? Final inspection is gonna be in two weeks. And then that's it? And that's it. Wow. So how long do you think construction took? It started in July.So July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February. So what, seven months? Yes, eight months. Eight months. So that's kind of what we're seeing. We're seeing six to seven months in planning, seven to eight months in construction, and it is a long time. It's 15 months, right? And people go, "Wow, why does it take so long?" They're in high demand. There's 2,500 ADUs in California, or, or, um, 80,000 ADUs in California, with another 80,000 coming in the next two years. It's just in high demand, so that's kind of a good thing. But, um, when the construction began, I think that's my funnest part, because there's nothing to see in planning. It's just waiting, waiting. How long, how much longer? But when the construction happens, we see daily progress. So when they leave, you go, "Hey, let's go snoop around. Let's go see what they did," right? So it, it's kind of fun. Did you enjoy that part? Yes, sir. And I did enjoy it, and I came every, almost every day. Am I right, Elmer? Yep, almost every day. Right, right. Anything you learned along the way? So obviously, we're filming here, and the purpose is for people that are just getting started. They think they want to build an ADU like you do. So believe it or not, now that you're almost done, you're actually now considered an expert, because you've done one, okay? Yes. The people watching are beginners. They're at the bottom of Mount Everest looking up. They go, "We don't know how to do this. We can't do... We don't know nothing about architecture. We know nothing about construction. We want one, but we don't want to make a mistake." What advice would you give to the people that are just in the stage you were when you started? To me, these two guys around me was helping me lot, and because of them, I think this project is gone so smooth. Yeah, yeah. How about you, Mrs. Bhaktara? D- I, I know that you were probably nervous a little when you started. Project, project is very smooth going, and it's f- done on the time. Yeah. So we're not expecting that s- faster, uh, work. If you were- This is very, very q- uh, nicely, smooth, and Steve and Elmer and whole team is very polite, very hardworking, very nicely- Okay ... done. So this leads to my, my final question. If you did it all over again, would you still recommend ADU Resource Center and Danix Construction? Yes. How about you? Yes. Sure. If anybody wants to do it- Anybody ... or, uh, in their project, I suggest hire these two guys, Karen, and, and get it done. They are very easy to work with them. They never said no. That's, that's, that's what, that's what they are. Yeah. Anything you want to change it, and even though not possible, they'll say, "Okay, we'll take it." Yeah. He di- he- You know, y- you know, every time they say yes, it costs them money. Yeah. Yeah, but, uh, well, uh, I know it's cost money, but again, you want something that you like. Yes. Yeah. And they provided you. Provide us. Yes. Yeah. And one thing that was important for us, uh, was to design within the certain budget that we maintain. Yeah. So k- you know, kind of maintain the budget that we came up with originally. Yes. So that was, you know, kind of the turnkey experience that we're really trying to give to the husband- Well, Steve- ... like Elmer ... first off, I'll start with you. You did a fantastic job. Thank you for all your inspiration. A lot of the stuff on the interior, the exterior, the stairs, all the ceiling heights, the dormer windows, all the, I know that's your concept, 'cause I recognize it- Mm-hmm ... from past designs. So thank you. You did a great job. Thank you. Um, and I'd like to thank you guys for allowing us to do an open house. I see people gathering out, o- outside. Outside. And I know they're anxious to come inside, so thank you again. And Karen and Elmer, thanks for all you do. You guys do a wonderful job as always. Thank you. Thank you. So- Thank you, Karen. Thank you, Karen, Elmer- ... Steve, and whole team. And if you would like to build your ADU- Thank you very much. Very nice job ... please call the number below.