All Forum Posts by: Alex U.

Things to remember, 

1. Construction is custom.  Builder "A" may take 2000 man hours to complete and have a median rate of $90/hr across trades.  Whereas, Builder B, may have a lower overhead cost and be able do it faster.

2. Site development, is custom, grading, soil prep...the list goes on. This can greatly affect cost greatly.

3. Design influences cost. If you have a simple design with all utilities on one side of the ADU, this will be cheaper than having to run drains, electrical, gas, to both sides. This is just one example. Hire an Architect with the end in mind, who understands the construction process, and how design decisions affect construction cost.

4. The best approach is to use a bottom-up analysis rather than a top-down of estimation of $250-$350 ft.  Scope out each phase of development, after plans have been approved.  Try to collect estimates from each trade, foundation, framing, plumbing, electrical, hvac, insulation, dryall, painting, flooring, and other finishes. Doing this will help you understand the true cost of construction.  You may want to have your contractor deliver you a shell, and sub out the finishes, that gives you more control over the selection of the finishes and overall cost.

Obviously, if you are just building a unit or two, this is probably a big waste of time.  However, more sq footage and units, this approach is definitely worth reviewing.

I have spoken to a few GCs, most of them are not sophisticated enough to proivde a cost breakdown structure, showing the scope of work, level of effort, time of delivery.  These are the basics of construction project management. It feels like people just throw numbers around like $250sq ft-$350, without any sort of justification or clarity of scope and cost. Either because they are unorganized or they just dont want to be transparent on pricing, to guard margin.

Has anyone met a GC who will share a work breakdown structure, to get accurate pricing?  Most of them throw around numbers, not knowing what it really entails.  Separating materials from labor, and breaking down each of the 12 phases, and then factoring in profit ( 20%) is a much more accurate way of scoping the project costs.  Most GCs are ill equipped with this level of sophistication, or maybe they ingore this on purpose to get higher margins.

I am looking for a GC to build approx 5k sq ft of adus (10-14 units)
. Some folks in my network are easily able to build in other states, like TX, utah, and Colorado for around $140-160 sq ft ( avg build quality, slab, stucco, moen level finishes) Labor there tends to run $200-$400/day for contractors. This is not factoring in entitlements. Material cost should be approx the same as San Diego. GCs here want, roughly $250-275/ft, roughly a 70% premium in labor costs. Would like to hear from folks who have built a multi-family structure, and if they were able to capture the economies of scale with multi-family development in San Diego.

Getting new insurance is a mess, Statefarm, American Family, Arrowhead, and others all out of California.  There is a good chance your existing policy will not be renewed or they will force you out with a very high renewal.

Thanks for your recommendations.  Would really appreciate any others who have had good experiences and competitive rates.

Can anyone recommend any reputable insurance brokers in san diego?

We just rented out a sfh, the property has been completely remodeled last month, new kitchens, bathrooms, appliances, flooring, paint, base, lighting, just about everything.

We have a tennant that moved in, and is wanting to replace the windows screens because of small holes, and blinds with small 2" missing slats. 

Is this a reasonable request?

Sure, would they happen to have a portfolio of past projects?

Looking for folks who have built multi-Adus in So cal, ie 4+ or more on a single lot.  This is very different than building just 1, as you should get the economies of scale.  1 roof, 1 foundation, etc.

This is hard to find, as this was not possible just a few months ago on RS zoned.  I guess you could compare RM zoned builds of multi-units for comparison. Anyone know if the regulations between RS and RM zonned multis builds are the same?