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About the land
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As you can imagine, good land is expensive and hard to find in Los Angeles. The same rule holds true everywhere; location influences price. Well, we weren't really willing to sacrifice location so we knew we had a challenge ahead of us.
"Uphill":img:http://www.livemodern.com/Members/angeleno/blog.2004-12-28.9356638419/image.2005-01-06.9022852396
Our approach was to seek out a functionally obsolete house on an otherwise good piece of land. In this case, the property we are buying consists of an exisitng 400sf house on a 6,000sf hillside site in Bel Air. The site really feels a lot bigger than it is because it is surrounded by several acres of government owned land on the hill. Amazingly, all the land around is platted, and there are even roads drawn on the plat maps in spite of the fact that the slope is 45 degrees - double-diamond ski slope here. The land around us could NEVER be built on....or could it ;)
The existing house really detracts from the property due to its size, unusual floor plan and poor quality. In the picture below, you can see that it takes some creativity to see beyond the existing "improvements".
"Existing":img:http://www.livemodern.com/Members/angeleno/blog.2004-12-28.9356638419/image.2005-01-06.9358916899
At least 2 people entered into escrow before us with the intent to purchase the cottage and live in it. You know there is a supply/demand mismatch when people are willing to spend half a million dollars to live in a 400 sf cottage with no actual bedroom!
You can see the footprint of the existing "house" in the aerial below. The footprint for the excavated portion of the basement for the LVL will be similar to the existing footprint. The idea here is to respond to the existing site constraints (trees and slope) and limit excavation, although I am sure by the end of this I will have moved more than my estimated 70 c.y. of dirt required for the cut. The finished floor of the top floor of the LVL will be about the same elevation as the top of the roof of the existing structure.
I will be shooting an aerial view from about this location as often as possible to document progress. I plan to make these aerial shots into a flipbook when we're done.
"Aerial":img:http://www.livemodern.com/Members/angeleno/blog.2004-12-28.9356638419/image.2005-01-06.9362215122
So the previous buyers didn't perform on their purchase and the Seller was getting fed up. I saw this as an opportunity. I wrote an offer under the asking price. The Seller came back and said "no contingencies", so I lowered my price again to which the Seller said "non-refundable deposit". I knew I wanted the property, so I was indifferent to this. Because this is a teardown, all the utilities were already to the site, so there was no need for a perc test. Because this was a no-contingency purchase we spent a lot of time reviewing zoning code and soils information before we went forward.
I learned a while ago that there are two times that you make money in real estate, when you buy and when you sell. A little extra time and effort invested in the front end can be well worth it.
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Pier and Grade Beam Foundation
John,
Our soils engineer starts work in a couple of weeks after our survey is done. We are anticipating and budgeting for the worst-case foundation scenario; a system of as many as 30 reinforced auger cast piles connected by grade beams. We also anticipate having to rebuild the downslope retaining wall that is above the lower house because our loads will discharge against that wall. Finally, we will be doing a small counterfort "dam" wall above the property with a complex drainage system throughout that will dump into a dry well with overflow runoff to the city storm sewer. Otherwise, the existing house is on the municipal sewer system.
Given how hard it has been raining in L.A. the past few weeks, the old axiom rings truer then ever - you can never have too much drainage. In fact, the street that the house sits on was actually closed for a few hours this morning, along with all other canyon routes, as we battle another couple inches of rain.
The house will be oriented to capture the uphill views, and I will be posting the plans here in a bit.
There is a lower 22' x 60' pad that adjoins the city street that will be my staging area. The current plan is to cut and shore a small path from that staging area to the house site for hauling. The most difficult part about receiving the kit will be offloading a 48' flatbed on Beverly Glen boulevard. We will have to have traffic controls to do so.
One of the reasons we went with the LV/LVL is due to the kit nature of the house. I got uncomfortable thinking about craning modules over my new neighbors' roof.
Yes, it's a challenging site!
Peter
Builders...
Hi Peter,
Was curious how you picked your builder. I've had a few conversations with builders about the same kind of kit home building (here in LA), and most of the reactions were quite surly...
Thanks,
Paul
The contractor search...
Paul,
We haven't started interviewing contractors yet. As you know, folks around here are so busy that unless they have a complete set of drawings and you are ready to start next week, you won't get a good bid. So, we've got some work to do still. That said, we have worked successfully with several in the past that are first on the list. Also, we are prepared to manage sub-trades ourselves if it comes down to it, although this is not a prefered scenario.
I'll keep you posted.
Peter
i can't believe i've found you?!
peter-
i'm thinking about putting up an lvl in los angeles as well. judging by your blog, you're much more experienced in building and real estate than i am. so i'm hoping you will be somewhat of a guide for me. my wife and i found a lot in a similar situation as yours. the house on the lot is definitely a tear down. the major difference is the lot is flat and probably doesn't need as much work as yours. i know you haven't started your search for a contractor yet but i'd appreciate it if you'd post the info when you finally find who you're going to go with. we're on a very strict budget so i don't even know if we're going to be able to afford this whole project. the lvl kit and the land i know we can afford. it's everything else that i'm unsure of. we would definitely have to find a g/c who would be willing to hold our hands (and do everything under our budget!) please keep us posted on your progress and post any info that you think might be helpful in my situation. thanks so much!
emangali
Tear Down verse unbuilt on land
Hi,
My husband and I are just starting the process of buying land to put a prefab on it. We are also in Los Angeles and while I have only just moved here from Australia, I am hearing constantly that we "must" buy a tear down as it is easier for permitting. Is this why you bought a tear down?
Tracey
Demo Approval
How far have you gotten in permitting the cottage demolition? Was there neighborhood resistance? What does the LA planning department think of your prefab home plans? Did you have to figure any of this out before you purchased the property?
Challenges
This looks like a challenging site!
You mentioned that you had some soil tests done. Did you hire a Geotech or a soils engineer to see what you're going to have to do to get a solid foundation in there? Are you going to need a grade beam or pin piles to keep the foundation on the hillside? Because that could add tens of thousands of dollars to your foundation costs. It's hard to tell from the photos but is the window side of the LV home going to face uphill - to the right in the photos? And how about delivering the components to the site - is that going to require a crane? And are you on city sewer or septic there?
John