[UCGal]

Yep – hubby does commercial.. primarily does hospitals, medical office buildings (MOB) and commercial office buildings. That last part is as dead as it can be in this market. But he’s back to work, thank goodness. He doesn’t do residential because he’s found the customers don’t have the cost/benefit tradeoff mindsets… they want high end finishes but low prices – and they’re emotionally invested. They don’t seem to understand that upgrading features/finishes adds to the price. Plus it’s harder to get paid in residential architecture.

Oh – and our second contractor was better than the first, but still ripped us off. (Lied about the costs of things on allowance items.) We were labeled “difficult customers” because we wanted things built to the bid set specs and receipts for allowance items. I doubt we’ll never hire a contractor again. If it can’t be done by hubby and I – it won’t get done.

My husbands advice on contractors for jobs over 20k… spend the extra 10% to get a performance bond that covers the full price of the contract. If it’s hard to get, that’s a red flag about the contractor. The bonding company will pay out if things go wrong. (State only requires $20k bond.)

And understand that the CSLB website does not disclose filed complaints until they’ve fully vetted the complaint – which can take a full year. Most consumers give up before that. So a clean license doesn’t mean no complaints filed.

Checking court records doesn’t help either – most contractors call for binding arbitration – no public database of filed claims with arbitration.

[UCGal]

Yep – hubby does commercial.. primarily does hospitals, medical office buildings (MOB) and commercial office buildings. That last part is as dead as it can be in this market. But he’s back to work, thank goodness. He doesn’t do residential because he’s found the customers don’t have the cost/benefit tradeoff mindsets… they want high end finishes but low prices – and they’re emotionally invested. They don’t seem to understand that upgrading features/finishes adds to the price. Plus it’s harder to get paid in residential architecture.

Oh – and our second contractor was better than the first, but still ripped us off. (Lied about the costs of things on allowance items.) We were labeled “difficult customers” because we wanted things built to the bid set specs and receipts for allowance items. I doubt we’ll never hire a contractor again. If it can’t be done by hubby and I – it won’t get done.

My husbands advice on contractors for jobs over 20k… spend the extra 10% to get a performance bond that covers the full price of the contract. If it’s hard to get, that’s a red flag about the contractor. The bonding company will pay out if things go wrong. (State only requires $20k bond.)

And understand that the CSLB website does not disclose filed complaints until they’ve fully vetted the complaint – which can take a full year. Most consumers give up before that. So a clean license doesn’t mean no complaints filed.

Checking court records doesn’t help either – most contractors call for binding arbitration – no public database of filed claims with arbitration.

[UCGal]

Yep – hubby does commercial.. primarily does hospitals, medical office buildings (MOB) and commercial office buildings. That last part is as dead as it can be in this market. But he’s back to work, thank goodness. He doesn’t do residential because he’s found the customers don’t have the cost/benefit tradeoff mindsets… they want high end finishes but low prices – and they’re emotionally invested. They don’t seem to understand that upgrading features/finishes adds to the price. Plus it’s harder to get paid in residential architecture.

Oh – and our second contractor was better than the first, but still ripped us off. (Lied about the costs of things on allowance items.) We were labeled “difficult customers” because we wanted things built to the bid set specs and receipts for allowance items. I doubt we’ll never hire a contractor again. If it can’t be done by hubby and I – it won’t get done.

My husbands advice on contractors for jobs over 20k… spend the extra 10% to get a performance bond that covers the full price of the contract. If it’s hard to get, that’s a red flag about the contractor. The bonding company will pay out if things go wrong. (State only requires $20k bond.)

And understand that the CSLB website does not disclose filed complaints until they’ve fully vetted the complaint – which can take a full year. Most consumers give up before that. So a clean license doesn’t mean no complaints filed.

Checking court records doesn’t help either – most contractors call for binding arbitration – no public database of filed claims with arbitration.

[UCGal]

[quote=Rich Toscano]Since I try to avoid ever going north of the merge…,[/quote]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way, LOL.

[UCGal]

[quote=Rich Toscano]Since I try to avoid ever going north of the merge…,[/quote]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way, LOL.

[UCGal]

[quote=Rich Toscano]Since I try to avoid ever going north of the merge…,[/quote]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way, LOL.

[UCGal]

[quote=Rich Toscano]Since I try to avoid ever going north of the merge…,[/quote]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way, LOL.

[UCGal]

[quote=Rich Toscano]Since I try to avoid ever going north of the merge…,[/quote]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way, LOL.

[UCGal]

[quote=CA renter]

UCGal,

If you don’t mind my asking, how much did the entire addition cost — fees and permits, design/architectural work, engineering, materials, labor, etc? Also, what are the specifics: attached/detached, size?

We would be interested in doing the same thing when (if??) we buy.

Thanks![/quote]
Our case was about as atypical as possible.

We built a detached companion unit – 700sf. Handicap accessible. A very nice looking “casita”.

Architecture – free. My husband is a registered architect.
It was on a slope, so we had civil engineering – 11k for the civil plan
4k for structural (2k building related, 2k for retaining walls)
10k for geotechnical (aka dirt).

If we had a level lot – you could eliminate the geotechnical, civil, and 2k of the structural… Engineering would have been 2k instead of 25k.

Permits – again atypical because we had the hill issues and had to get a civil permit and a separate permit for the retaining walls that hold the building site in place. The building permit was probably $30k, the others were a lot less. Oh and because of the retaining wall footings, we triggered a CalOSHA permit requirement. (Not at all typical.)

Judging by your screen name, I presume you’re renting. If you plan to do this, make sure the home you buy has a big enough lot. In San Diego (city) you need to have double the nominal size for your zone… In our case we needed at least a 10k sf lot since the nominal was 5k. Our lot was big – but on a canyon – so we had the added expense of grading/retaining walls. Unincorporated county has completely different rules. You’ll want to check what the requirements are for a companion unit for whatever city you buy in. San Diego probably has the most restrictive.

But – it’s worked out well (except financially)… my mother in law finds it much easier to care for my wheelchair bound father in law in a house that was designed handicapped accessible from the start. And my kids get to spend quality time with their grandparents – which is HUGE.

[UCGal]

[quote=CA renter]

UCGal,

If you don’t mind my asking, how much did the entire addition cost — fees and permits, design/architectural work, engineering, materials, labor, etc? Also, what are the specifics: attached/detached, size?

We would be interested in doing the same thing when (if??) we buy.

Thanks![/quote]
Our case was about as atypical as possible.

We built a detached companion unit – 700sf. Handicap accessible. A very nice looking “casita”.

Architecture – free. My husband is a registered architect.
It was on a slope, so we had civil engineering – 11k for the civil plan
4k for structural (2k building related, 2k for retaining walls)
10k for geotechnical (aka dirt).

If we had a level lot – you could eliminate the geotechnical, civil, and 2k of the structural… Engineering would have been 2k instead of 25k.

Permits – again atypical because we had the hill issues and had to get a civil permit and a separate permit for the retaining walls that hold the building site in place. The building permit was probably $30k, the others were a lot less. Oh and because of the retaining wall footings, we triggered a CalOSHA permit requirement. (Not at all typical.)

Judging by your screen name, I presume you’re renting. If you plan to do this, make sure the home you buy has a big enough lot. In San Diego (city) you need to have double the nominal size for your zone… In our case we needed at least a 10k sf lot since the nominal was 5k. Our lot was big – but on a canyon – so we had the added expense of grading/retaining walls. Unincorporated county has completely different rules. You’ll want to check what the requirements are for a companion unit for whatever city you buy in. San Diego probably has the most restrictive.

But – it’s worked out well (except financially)… my mother in law finds it much easier to care for my wheelchair bound father in law in a house that was designed handicapped accessible from the start. And my kids get to spend quality time with their grandparents – which is HUGE.

[UCGal]

[quote=CA renter]

UCGal,

If you don’t mind my asking, how much did the entire addition cost — fees and permits, design/architectural work, engineering, materials, labor, etc? Also, what are the specifics: attached/detached, size?

We would be interested in doing the same thing when (if??) we buy.

Thanks![/quote]
Our case was about as atypical as possible.

We built a detached companion unit – 700sf. Handicap accessible. A very nice looking “casita”.

Architecture – free. My husband is a registered architect.
It was on a slope, so we had civil engineering – 11k for the civil plan
4k for structural (2k building related, 2k for retaining walls)
10k for geotechnical (aka dirt).

If we had a level lot – you could eliminate the geotechnical, civil, and 2k of the structural… Engineering would have been 2k instead of 25k.

Permits – again atypical because we had the hill issues and had to get a civil permit and a separate permit for the retaining walls that hold the building site in place. The building permit was probably $30k, the others were a lot less. Oh and because of the retaining wall footings, we triggered a CalOSHA permit requirement. (Not at all typical.)

Judging by your screen name, I presume you’re renting. If you plan to do this, make sure the home you buy has a big enough lot. In San Diego (city) you need to have double the nominal size for your zone… In our case we needed at least a 10k sf lot since the nominal was 5k. Our lot was big – but on a canyon – so we had the added expense of grading/retaining walls. Unincorporated county has completely different rules. You’ll want to check what the requirements are for a companion unit for whatever city you buy in. San Diego probably has the most restrictive.

But – it’s worked out well (except financially)… my mother in law finds it much easier to care for my wheelchair bound father in law in a house that was designed handicapped accessible from the start. And my kids get to spend quality time with their grandparents – which is HUGE.

[UCGal]

[quote=CA renter]

UCGal,

If you don’t mind my asking, how much did the entire addition cost — fees and permits, design/architectural work, engineering, materials, labor, etc? Also, what are the specifics: attached/detached, size?

We would be interested in doing the same thing when (if??) we buy.

Thanks![/quote]
Our case was about as atypical as possible.

We built a detached companion unit – 700sf. Handicap accessible. A very nice looking “casita”.

Architecture – free. My husband is a registered architect.
It was on a slope, so we had civil engineering – 11k for the civil plan
4k for structural (2k building related, 2k for retaining walls)
10k for geotechnical (aka dirt).

If we had a level lot – you could eliminate the geotechnical, civil, and 2k of the structural… Engineering would have been 2k instead of 25k.

Permits – again atypical because we had the hill issues and had to get a civil permit and a separate permit for the retaining walls that hold the building site in place. The building permit was probably $30k, the others were a lot less. Oh and because of the retaining wall footings, we triggered a CalOSHA permit requirement. (Not at all typical.)

Judging by your screen name, I presume you’re renting. If you plan to do this, make sure the home you buy has a big enough lot. In San Diego (city) you need to have double the nominal size for your zone… In our case we needed at least a 10k sf lot since the nominal was 5k. Our lot was big – but on a canyon – so we had the added expense of grading/retaining walls. Unincorporated county has completely different rules. You’ll want to check what the requirements are for a companion unit for whatever city you buy in. San Diego probably has the most restrictive.

But – it’s worked out well (except financially)… my mother in law finds it much easier to care for my wheelchair bound father in law in a house that was designed handicapped accessible from the start. And my kids get to spend quality time with their grandparents – which is HUGE.

[UCGal]

[quote=CA renter]

UCGal,

If you don’t mind my asking, how much did the entire addition cost — fees and permits, design/architectural work, engineering, materials, labor, etc? Also, what are the specifics: attached/detached, size?

We would be interested in doing the same thing when (if??) we buy.

Thanks![/quote]
Our case was about as atypical as possible.

We built a detached companion unit – 700sf. Handicap accessible. A very nice looking “casita”.

Architecture – free. My husband is a registered architect.
It was on a slope, so we had civil engineering – 11k for the civil plan
4k for structural (2k building related, 2k for retaining walls)
10k for geotechnical (aka dirt).

If we had a level lot – you could eliminate the geotechnical, civil, and 2k of the structural… Engineering would have been 2k instead of 25k.

Permits – again atypical because we had the hill issues and had to get a civil permit and a separate permit for the retaining walls that hold the building site in place. The building permit was probably $30k, the others were a lot less. Oh and because of the retaining wall footings, we triggered a CalOSHA permit requirement. (Not at all typical.)

Judging by your screen name, I presume you’re renting. If you plan to do this, make sure the home you buy has a big enough lot. In San Diego (city) you need to have double the nominal size for your zone… In our case we needed at least a 10k sf lot since the nominal was 5k. Our lot was big – but on a canyon – so we had the added expense of grading/retaining walls. Unincorporated county has completely different rules. You’ll want to check what the requirements are for a companion unit for whatever city you buy in. San Diego probably has the most restrictive.

But – it’s worked out well (except financially)… my mother in law finds it much easier to care for my wheelchair bound father in law in a house that was designed handicapped accessible from the start. And my kids get to spend quality time with their grandparents – which is HUGE.

[UCGal]

I have no clue why/how zillow gets their numbers.

For example – my house. Same models on our street, also without any additions, are showing $100k or more higher than ours. All of these houses are 40+ years old. The only thing I can figure is that our front yard isn’t as nice. They sure as heck don’t know what the state of the inside is. For all Zillow knows we could have the most fantabulous decked out new bathrooms/kitchens with hand crafted hardword floors installed by artisons. How would zillow know?

Now, we’ve added a companion unit – which changed our deed status to multi-family. Zillow shows us as multifamily, but does not give us the added square footage. And obviously doesn’t give us the added value of having a detached 1 bedroom rental unit.

It doesn’t matter to me. I’m not planning on selling anytime in the near or longterm… we’re here for the long haul. But my house is proof that Zillow seems to pull numbers out of their butt. They don’t seem to have much credibility.

[UCGal]

I have no clue why/how zillow gets their numbers.

For example – my house. Same models on our street, also without any additions, are showing $100k or more higher than ours. All of these houses are 40+ years old. The only thing I can figure is that our front yard isn’t as nice. They sure as heck don’t know what the state of the inside is. For all Zillow knows we could have the most fantabulous decked out new bathrooms/kitchens with hand crafted hardword floors installed by artisons. How would zillow know?

Now, we’ve added a companion unit – which changed our deed status to multi-family. Zillow shows us as multifamily, but does not give us the added square footage. And obviously doesn’t give us the added value of having a detached 1 bedroom rental unit.

It doesn’t matter to me. I’m not planning on selling anytime in the near or longterm… we’re here for the long haul. But my house is proof that Zillow seems to pull numbers out of their butt. They don’t seem to have much credibility.

[Author]

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