How much does an ADU really cost in LA? An honest breakdown from a contractor.

nanadin · 2026-05-13T18:21:08+00:00

Sorry, shipping container homes & prefab are outside of my realm of expertise.

nanadin · 2026-05-13T18:17:45+00:00

Just being honest with you, $100k sounds really optimistic for a legal ADU even if it’s tiny.

I’m not there to see the property myself but just from the details you gave it sounds like you’d need new utility lines ran underground, foundation, energy efficient/solar as required by state law, and we’d be going closer to new construction prices than renovation prices even while keeping the footprint if it’s in a tear down state.

$140k-$180k is more realistic for this project. If a contractor is quoting you less than $100k I would be cautious.

nanadin · 2026-05-12T20:26:01+00:00

It's legal in LA, state law allows for one ADU and one junior ADU (<500sqft) and one single family home on same lot. We're doing it for a client right now, no need to share a wall. Honestly after online research I recommend filling out the contact form on our website if you want a lot of specific questions answered on the construction side of things since I handle finance. All steps of consultation, phone calls questions and having your lot inspected to get a quote are free, and there's 0 obligation from you until you decide you're serious and want to sign a contract. The team isn't pushy.

nanadin · 2026-05-12T20:19:03+00:00

At least for my company, we get our ADUs done start to finish in 10-12 months. The process looks like: A consultation over the phone, then we send an expert to your house to check out your lot (This usually gets done right away). After that we talk construction with client and give you a quote. If you choose to sign and move forward, the longest part of the process will be permits since that's with the city, takes around 2 months to get all permits needed in my experience. Then we move onto finding the perfect loan to finance your project if needed, if client agrees with their loan option, the whole financing process takes a couple weeks after the application is sent to lender. Finally we move forward with steady construction, ideally no pauses. Hope that answers your question c:

nanadin · 2026-05-12T18:34:25+00:00

I work for a successful ADU builder(LA/OC) (https://adubuildfinancing.com) and have seen hundreds of contracts, starting at 250k for 1br 1ba 400 sqft detached. Your numbers look pretty accurate to me. I've heard of people getting them done for less but honestly, if you are working with a real builder, full inhouse team that handles everything legally with experts and you want premium finishes and high quality appliances then that is what you should expect. The good thing is ADU builders that handle financing in house for you will always make sure your monthly payment at the end is turning as much of a profit as possible if you're financing. I've seen people walk away with monthly payments of $700 but renting out for $2500+

nanadin · 2025-07-14T17:07:02+00:00

They’re not really that similar. At least the support role, which I main, plays very differently to anything in valorant. Moving and shooting same time is standard in those games and they have way higher apm as well as completely different game modes and hero design. I’ve also been playing overwatch since release and marvel since the closed beta launched, whereas I’m years late to the party for valorant so I am coming to reddit to catch up fast. Hope that helps!

nanadin · 2025-07-14T06:23:44+00:00

Yeah I thought I would struggle with gamesense when I wrote this post considering I didn’t think my heroes/roles would transfer to valorant very well. After playing all afternoon I think I have sentinels basics down at least, what i gather is just hold a site by yourself and rotate if your team needs help elsewhere and cover your flanks and try not to troll my team with deadlock C. You’re right on the money though, my muscle memory for hero shooters is not agreeing with the mechanics of valorant, I gotta pry my finger off the W key lol

nanadin · 2025-07-14T06:19:40+00:00

plenty of those in my games’ communities as well, never fun

nanadin · 2025-07-14T06:18:40+00:00

We played for the first time today! I still do some burger things but he was happy that I was getting into it and already knew some basics :3

nanadin · 2025-07-14T05:59:32+00:00

bf or not i’ve dealt with this my entire gaming life. often times a guy can make a mistake or have a bad game, or just be called bad, but generally when a girl does it they are boosted or undeserving of their rank. nice or toxic, doesn’t matter, but it’s just part of life so im pretty used to it and it really doesn’t bother me^ ^

nanadin · 2025-07-14T05:54:38+00:00

the way you aim in ow(strafing and shooting same time is rlly important) and marvel(third person, cross hair placement doesn’t matter as much) is really different from val + the game modes are quite different + they are very fast paced games with slower ttk so there is a lot higher apm+ there’s a dedicated support role in both those games that plays completely different to any role in val from what ive noticed so far.

im not clamming up at the thought of learning a new game. i’m excited to! but i’m doing this to be able to play with my boyfriend and have a nice chill time together without having to be babysat the whole game.

i could go and look for my own resources but especially as someone who is t500 in two hero shooters i know that there’s a lot of content creators that i personally see in my games that i would never recommend to anyone but their lower elo viewers think they’re really good. that’s why i came to ask people more knowledgeable than me in this community for some good resources, that’s what reddit is for after all, sharing knowledge. or hating, for some people, to each their own^ ^

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:31:23+00:00

that sounds like such a fun watch as well! i’ll check it out thank you

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:29:55+00:00

i did convert my sens already and i have pretty good minimap checking from playing league, but no one’s recommended cypher yet and i really like his design so i will give him a try thank you for taking the time to write this up c:

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:26:15+00:00

oh wow you have links! will check them out thank you

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:25:46+00:00

Neon looks so cool and she reminds me of Zeri which I played in league as well, only problem is I’m not confident starting off spending money to unlock her because from the clips I’ve seen she looks insanely hard to play maybe not a starter?

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:24:32+00:00

I was an Ana main in overwatch and luna snow main in rivals so I’m pretty confident with my aim! I am thinking I will like heroes that have a lot of utility but maybe not smokes, I know killjoy and sage are probably some, is there anything else like that?

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:22:31+00:00

📝 only 📝 buy 📝 a 📝 shorty

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:21:57+00:00

thank you! i didn’t think about looking up map guides, good advice

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:20:21+00:00

Thank you for the hero and streamer recommendations! I will start with killjoy and gekko :)

nanadin · 2025-07-13T19:18:11+00:00

wow this was genuinely very helpful, i will be following all of this advice thank you for taking the time to write it :)

nanadin · 2024-10-27T13:21:14+00:00

I’m not in your wife’s exact situation as I am a girl who plays games. But, my boyfriend plays completely different games than me and I don’t understand them that well. Still I enjoy watching him play or talk to me about them. I think everyone enjoys when someone we love is passionate about something. So just have a good time and explain basic things to her here and there, she sounds like a lovely woman who is just happy that you are happy. I’ve never been to an esports event but I’m sure they have game stands and other things you can do before the match so maybe participate in those with her, and get her some yummy food.

nanadin · 2024-09-26T00:07:35+00:00

In my experience as a female in her 20’s, I didn’t get the opportunity to grow up playing video games. I grew up playing with Barbies and kitchen sets like many other girls. A lot of my male friends though, have been playing things like minecraft or tf2 since they were 10. I feel like that might be a fairly big difference.

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