Everyone is talking about EV chargers. The state wants them. Tenants are asking for them. New legislation is requiring them in certain renovation and construction contexts. And the contractors who install them are happy to show up, mount the hardware, and hand you an invoice. What those contractors are frequently not telling you — because […]

Los Angeles is a city of small lots with large ambitions. The R1 parcels in Silver Lake, the narrow infill lots in Echo Park, the constrained rear yards in Palms and Mar Vista, the landlocked properties in Highland Park where a detached ADU would consume the entire usable outdoor space — these are the lots […]

For decades, the fundamental limitation of ADU investment in California was exit strategy. You could build the unit. You could rent it. But you could not sell it independently of the primary residence. The ADU and the main house were legally inseparable — one parcel, one title, one transaction. Whatever equity the ADU represented was […]

If you've received a quote for an SB 326 or SB 721 balcony inspection in Los Angeles, you may have encountered a scope of work that includes something called "destructive testing" — or more specifically, the removal of decking, sheathing, or finish materials to access the structural framing beneath. That approach is not an inspection […]

You volunteered for the board. You show up to the meetings. You vote on the budget, review the financials, and try to do right by your community. You are not a structural engineer. You are not a lawyer. You are a homeowner who agreed to help manage a shared property. SB 326 does not care […]

The crew has packed up. The parking garage has been swept. The steel moment frames are behind drywall and the anchor bolts are under the topping slab. The construction phase of your soft-story retrofit is complete — and if you're like most property owners, your instinct is to close the file. Don't close the file. […]

Most apartment owners in Los Angeles have received the City's retrofit compliance notice. Most have gotten at least one bid. And most have approved a scope of work that describes, in technical language, what is going to happen to their building. What very few owners have ever seen is what that work actually looks like […]

Every property owner in Los Angeles who is considering a construction project in 2025 and 2026 is asking the same question before they pick up the phone: what is this actually going to cost me right now, and is now even the right time to build? It is a reasonable question. The construction cost environment […]

The work is done. The crew is gone. The invoice is paid. And somewhere in a drawer, or in an email thread you can't quite find, or possibly nowhere at all — is the documentation that determines whether the work you just paid for actually protects you. Most property owners in Los Angeles evaluate their […]

Every house moves. In Los Angeles, with its expansive soils, seismic activity, and dramatic seasonal moisture swings, a small amount of movement in an older structure is normal. Experienced homeowners know this. They see a hairline crack in the drywall, a door that sticks slightly in winter, a tile that has shifted near the back […]