Hi, friends. Uh, this is Danny with ADU Resource Center, and today we are in Covina, and we're speaking with Gloria, who has built a brand new... How many square feet? 700 and- Seven, seven- 50 ... just, just a squeeze under 750- Yeah ... so we can save on some city fees there. Two bedrooms, two baths. Yeah? Yes. Yes. And I've got Michael Koromilas from ADU Resource Center, who was h- her project manager. So, um, like many of you, uh, that are starting your ADU project or considering starting your ADU project, a lot of questions. You're at the bottom of Mount Everest looking up. So we're gonna talk to somebody who was scared and nervous, just like you. Weren't you, in the beginning? Yes. 'Cause nobody wants to make a mistake. Oh, yes, yes. Right? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, yeah. How did you wind up meeting ADU Resource Center, or how did you wind up getting- You know, actually, very basic. Google. Google. Google and re- read reviews. Nice. And, um, yeah, and it was such a nice find. When Michael started talking to you about the possibilities... Now, we're gonna be inserting photos while we're talking about this. Mm-hmm. So we'll have images of the, the ADU while we're talking. When it be- when you began, this was nothing. This was just land out here, right? Yeah, it was flat land. Mm-hmm. So did you visualize it prior to, or did you need help from Michael? Yeah. I mean, Michael definitely helped us a lot to think about it. Um, but yeah, we, we, we thought it was going to be this tiny little thing because we were so used to the big, open, flat land, you know? Yeah, yeah. Um, but we did want it to be comfortable for whoever came to be here. And in this case, it's for family. It's not ne- necessarily rental. Yes, yes. So for family, so we definitely thought about something that was... that we loved, you know? Every, every part of it- Okay ... that we, that we loved. Do you know what I love the most about it? I love all the, the natural lighting you have in here, all the windows. I love the vaulted ceiling. It feels bigger than what it is. Yeah. It doesn't... Definitely. Yeah, and, and, you know, and, and there was a lot of conversation with the architects, with your office, about the vaulted ceiling, and do we want it just one s- you know, one part of it? Do we want a lot of windows? So, yeah, it was, it was nice to- Did we use a floor plan template, or did we start from scratch? We kind of started from scratch on this one. Um, we started with an initial idea of where we wanna place it, and I remember one of your biggest goals was, "How is it going to interface with my backyard's decor?" Correct. Right? You really wanted to make sure that I could have some gravel over here. I think we talked about a little plunge pool at some point. Yeah. Like, we actually- That's still, that's still in my mind ... that's still in, still in the works, yep. Um, but it needed to be able to have a beautiful home in your backyard and not consume everything, but complement your landscape. Yes. Yeah, we d- we definitely want it to be something that was very useful to our kids or whoever was going to come here. And, you know, in the end, it might be us that are moving- Mm ... into here, and they're using the house. So, um, but that was integrated. Exactly that. That was integrated, or that can be cut in half, you know- Sure ... separated as well. When you started officially designing and creating, was that a fun process, or did- It was- ... was, uh, uh, an anxious process? Yeah. You know, I'm kind of an anxious person, so it wa- it's always anxious because I want it to be nice. I want it to work out fine. I'm always thinking about that. But it was fun because, honestly, the, uh, people at center are very knowledgeable. Michael's very helpful. Just that kind of calmed us down, sitting in the office and talking to people. Was Cherise your initial designer, working on the floor plans? Yes, yes. How did you like working with her? Very much. Yeah, she's good, isn't she? Very much, honestly. And so, yeah, and we did start from scratch because we had to... You know, we chose, do we want the, the bedrooms on each side, or do we... I mean, really, it was- And after the initial concept was done and she had a rough dr- first draft, did you come into the office to edit with us, uh- Yes ... with, in the big room? We had, we had those meetings, uh-huh. Yeah, it's better than doing it all over the email and then- Yeah, definitely ... back and forth. Yeah. And even though, you know, the, the, they are responsive and everything, you... It was nice because we did have questions, and we made changes- Right ... definitely through email, but it was nice to sit in the office. Yeah. It's amazing to have that 3D visual of your idea- Mm-hmm ... right there in front of you, right away. Mm-hmm. "Oh, what does it look like if I put a window here?" Yeah, she's very fast, very fast. "Look, I get to see exactly what it'll look like." Yeah. "Let, let's take, you know, a couple of feet out here," you know? But really, we did, we made those changes. Yeah. We were kind of un- yeah. Yeah, that's great. Demanding there, that way. When you finally finish the design, it goes to engineering. Then eventually we drop it off to the city and the county, right? I know that's a long, long wait. Um, and maybe if there was a negative about building an ADU, that would be the only one that I can think of is, uh, I wish I could, I wish I could soften the blow. It's not- Mm-hmm. It's just, it's... You gotta get a pillow and a blanket- Mm-hmm ... and just wait for the city- Yeah ... to do their thing. But eventually, you come out of the city, and they say, "Congratulations. You've got your permit. Here's your stamped plans. You can now build this thing," right? Now comes this, the selection process on a contractor, right? Yes. So we have our pool of vetted contractors. You have your ability to shop. What did you find? Yeah. I, I, I talked to a lot of people, recommended people, uh, that, uh... because I do try to, you know, go to people that other people have used before, that know their work, and, uh, can give me examples.But I didn't find the, that the people that, from the outside that were as knowledgeable of how to build an ADU- Mm ... or a small house in the backyard, you know? It, it takes a particular skill- Yeah ... in that regard- Yeah, mm ... as, as I did with the ones that Michael recommended. You know, we vetted, I don't know if he told you the backstory, but we vetted 80 contracting teams, and of the 80 that we were... 'Cause we're, with over 500 projects, we needed helping hands, so we needed to start recruiting t- teams. Of the 80 that we interviewed and vetted, we rejected 60. That's how many bad contractors- Mm ... are out there. Yeah. And that's only in the batch that we interviewed, so the 20 that, teams that we have are the best of the best. Not the most, not the cheapest, not the most expensive. Hopefully somewhere in the middle where we can add value, and that's what you did. You didn't take the cheapest. Yeah, because we did find for outside, you know, the outside contractors, they were def- definitely, uh, cheaper. Sim- somewhat cheaper than, than, uh, the ones we talked with, uh, from, from the center. But we didn't feel... I wanted to be reassured that they knew what they were doing, and that they would respond to me- Right ... which is what I found with the, ultimately, with the contractors that we, that we picked- So you're working with- ... partner ... with, uh, uh, uh, LA Builders, Merrick and Pavel, and how is your experience with them so far? So good. Yeah. I mean, really. We're very, very happy with them. Um, they're very responsive, and he tries to find a way to just give us what we were asking. Yeah. He's very, uh, nice, and he understands it, and he likes it. We've had them the- He likes the good ideas ... they've been with us the longest. Uh, when we- Yeah ... when we began just, just being ADU-specific in 2020, he was with us. So he's done more projects for us than any other, an- any other contracting company that we've added on to the team since. So I'm glad, I'm glad the, the, the journey went well, and you're close to being done, yeah? Yeah, very close. And in record time too, right? Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. I think- Were you expecting it to come in, uh, that soon? No, no, no, not at all. Less, less than 12 months. So you started in January. January 2nd. Middle, middle. Yeah. And now we're middle of April. Yes. That ain't bad. No, that's crazy. Right? Funny thing is the contracting goes faster than the planning. Yeah. I know. Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause we're driving, at the end, when we're passenger, we're waiting. We're going, "How long, how much longer till we get there?" Yeah. You know? But you know, they, also that they're knowledgeable, and they have, uh... Also, also the workers are very good, very quick. Uh, but that also helps with the city- Mm ... because inspectors come, and they pass really fast. They know us. Every time. You know? They, they- It helps ... that, it helps. It helps that they are, um, you know, that they know what they're doing. When the inspectors can see and trust- Yes ... the work being done, then their guard's down- Right ... a little bit, right? But also for- They're like, "Man, I don't have to go and pick and ch- choose..." Yeah. I, I, I think I ta- uh, told you too that the city also, uh, was very happy with what the center sent them, the plans. Yeah. They, they actually told us, the guy that was, that was looking at the plans said, "You know what? These are..." ADU Resource Center- Yes ... listen, if there's anything I can say is that repetition is a very good teacher, and if you do something over and over and over, kind of much like an assembly line, we get into a little bit of a zen mode, right? Mm-hmm. And just, we just, it, you do the same thing over and over and over, you're gonna get good at it. Yeah. Right? Yeah. So we're pretty good at it, you know, and I think we've done more projects than all the other c- designers and contractors combined in southern California. Mm-hmm. So that's who we are. That's what we do. But thank you for the kind words. Um, what advice do you have for people that are gonna be watching the video, and they're gonna go, "Okay. I know we wanna build one. I don't know nothing about architecture." Neither did you. "I know even less about contracting." So what advice do you have for them because they're scared? They know they wanna do it, they, some of them need to, because it's either for family, assisted living needs, or for supplemental income reasons. Mm-hmm. They have to do it. What's the best way to get started? I mean, I think finding, um, the ADU Resource Center was, was something that was really helpful, because you do have the knowledge and understanding of what the process is. And, and really that's what reassured me, because then I'm one that would go back and do some research myself and then find out that it was in fact true, you know, and, and, and we had a lot of conversations about that. So I think that he- that was helpful to, to be with a partner from the beginning that knew what they were doing and that understood the process. Um, and then also when we chose our contractor, uh, having that contractor that, that understands you as well, that you could see that there's a- And listens ... yeah, that is listening, you know? Uh, you know, the, the boards, those baseboards, you know, they wanted, they, they had planned to put just straight baseboards, and we said, "No, no, we want them to be this way." And so there was not a lot of pushback to, to make the change, you know? They just, they thought, "Okay, it's gonna look good." And then later they liked it a lot too. Yeah. So- What their, what their job is to do is to stay within budget, yeah? But we're n- we're not buying an appliance or a TV, we're building a house. Mm-hmm. And as the house is being built, they're smart enough to freestyle as we go, and if the homeowner says, "You know, I know that it says this, our, our budget that we agreed on is X, but we wanna upgrade that." Mm-hmm. They go, "No problem." And that's the way it's supposed to be. Mm-hmm. They're not supposed to push back. They're gonna say, "No problem." There might be a small upcharge, but a- as long as you're happy in the end- Mm-hmm ... that's the most important thing, and they get it. Those guys get it. Yeah. Yeah. So did you learn anything along the way that-You could pass on to the people watching the things that you should, um... Let's talk about price. In the beginning, everybody's w- we're all sticker shocked. When, when the numbers start coming up, what does it take to build an ADU? Oh my God, that's a lot of money, right? But almost 100% of the c- clients exceed the budget at some point, because they said, "Hey, this is for me. I want what I want, what I want." And it's okay for you to exceed the budget, as long as we don't, right? Did you stay within budget or did you go over? We stayed within budget. You did? Yes. Okay. No regrets? No. So you had a good vision. So that's good. Yeah. You had a good project manager, and didn't- Yes. And, and again, and I think it did have to do with the fact that we didn't go with the lowest, lowest budget. You know, that, um... And so, yeah, we were, we, we stayed within, within budget. Not the original. I mean, original we, we thought it was going to be very, half of what we paid Well, that's what I was... That, that's kind of what I was talking about. Or originally, for sure. Yeah. But then when we, when we accepted the, you know, the, when we picked the contractor and we accepted the budget, yeah, we, we stayed within the budget, so. In the beginning, I think we're all shocked when we see, when we think, "Well, I hope it's gonna be around this much," and we find out it's not even close to that, and they go, "Oh my God." But yet, we're still building them and building and building them. So everybody event- gets over that, I guess it's just an emotional hump. Mm-hmm. And once you've decided, "I still want it, I just didn't know they were gonna be that much." Building it is still one-third the cost of buying. Because if you took this house right now, and we put it across the street, it would cost three times what it co- took you to build it. At least, yeah. Right, yeah. Yeah. So it's still a good day. Okay, last question, then I'll let you go. It's her birthday, by the way. Happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you. Um, if you did it all over again, would you still recommend ADU Resource Center? Completely. Yes? At, and we're recommending it now, yeah, to our friends. Excellent. Absolutely. Happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you for the kind words. It was very nice. Very nice. Thank you so much. And if you'd like to build your own ADU, call the number below.