How She Built a House for $158,000 in Los Angeles

Today we're taking a look inside a brand new construction ADU that was built for just $158,000.

Follow Krista to learn more!

0:00 This house was built for $158,000
0:28 Tour of the 500 sq ft house
1:19 How she converted the garage to a house
1:45 The costly mistake she made
3:35 Starting the new construction ADU
3:50 How she saved $5,000 on this build
4:22 Breakdown of the costs
6:29 Rental income breakdown
7:22 Why she made it a mid term rental
8:17 Why ADU's can be controversial
9:20 Krista's experience with her neighbors and the new build

Twitter: @shelbychurch
Snapchat: shelbychurch

[ShelbyChurch]

hi everyone - thanks for watching this video!
The goal was to teach people who are unfamiliar with ADU’s about them: how much they can cost, how long it takes to build, what kind of fees you can expect.

believe it or not, a LOT of people are unfamiliar with the term “ADU” - which is why I didn’t use it in the title. Many of you that clicked on the video are kind of in the real estate niche - but you have to remember that the average person might not know what an ADU is (I meet people like this all the time!)

A lot of people I know are frustrated that it’s an Airbnb. I totally get that. I’d love to see more people turn these into long term rental units too. But it’s not my property and Krista is free to do whatever she wants with it. Many other people are building them with the intention of making them long term rentals, a place for elderly parents to live, etc. which is really cool to see. Not everyone is making them airbnbs - just in this case she did make it a 28 day+ airbnb.

Let me know what you would do with the property if you built one of these!

[clo]

How to build a house for $158, 000 in LA.

Step 1: Already have a (on average) $941, 784 property

[logmyshop]

I think it's controversial because so many people who build ADUs don't actually add to the housing supply for residents, just like this example. They built 2 new units and 0 of them will be available to local residents, because they prefer to and get more money from Airbnb. They contribute to rising rents while taking resources, like street parking, from the community.

[bparth]

Lol, she didn't "build a house for $158, 000." She built an ADU (basically a shed) on an existing property with a home. So you'd have to count the price of that home and the lot. Also, she doesn't even "rent" them out, which is what the city wants to incentivize - she puts them up on Airbnb, just contributing to the housing crisis. She even skirts around the school tax with the <500 sq ft loophole.

[brianxyz]

The architect did a great job designing that unit. Looks way bigger than 499 sq. ft.

[andil]

First of all, the ADU is beautiful. But……. this is not adding “two new units to the LA supply”. From what she is saying, she’s renting them out as a short-term (or aka Airbnb rental) and that’s ALOT of money for such small units. This is money in her pocket (good for her) but does not help the housing shortage at all. Let just be honest. IMO this cavalier affirmation of $4000/month being an acceptable price is what’s driving housing and rent prices up.

[AccidentalHorcrux]

10:40 she didn't add any housing units. she added rentals for tourists. this does nothing for the housing market unless she rents long term to locals or sells.

[Lion_McLionhead]

Kind of sucks that owning a house anywhere in Calif* nowadays requires inheriting an ADU with tenants. Everything that was once single family is now a tiny home shared with an ADU with tenants.

[mikeshafer]

LA should embrace tiny homes. Single people like myself really don't need more than 600sqft generally other than storing our stuff. Maybe call it 1000sqft max for storage. It would be nice if there were millions of these little starter homes available for purchase for people who don't need over, say, 1000sqft.

[Furtivo]

Hey Shelby - Would it be quicker and less hassle if Krista went with Boxable prefab casita? They start at $60, 000 for 360 sqft. You need to add foundation/hookup of utilities for about $15, 000 but you can skip architect fees and pass inspection way easier. I think im gonna to do it on my property.

[houssamalucad]

3000$ plus on the slow months is crazy rent for a studio, y'all LA people are crazy to live there.

[Courtney-Alice-Gargani]

She did a great job. I like it. My contractors had to pull a permit to replace my HVAC unit and a permit to rewire the electrical.

[SoloLVLing_VIPBL]

This is a perfect shared ADU information! Please continue to feature these series of ADU. I live around OC county that I’m planning on adding an ADU to my backyard which is a pool area right now, that we’re don’t even use anymore. Would love to learn and have more information on ADU and the processes. Would she be able to share the contractors and sources that she is using to do all the steps to build this ADU? If they’re great work experience I would love to use them as well.

[CKism]

I think there is a huge difference with people who actually live on site versus the people who take multiple apartments and convert those into ADUs or people who rent party houses. They are the ones who are taking up existing housing and causing so many problems.

[vladrazym]

Unbelievable how this shoebox made of cardboard and pine can cost $158k to build. Crazy time to live

[Emphasis]

3:29 I cant believe they put an ad placement on this piece that is too obvious.

[ivanquezada]

You should have put "ADU" Iin your title. Would get wayyyy more views

[g.pp.]

I know Los Angeles has so many regulations when building/renovating a home but it is important because of safety issues. I watch lot of renovations in different states where additions are not up to code and potential putting habitant’s lives in jeopardy.

[NicksDynasty]

I'm all for ADUs everywhere.
If cities were more walkable with good transit parking should be an afterthought

[sashm]

I feel like this is quite misleading, because she built an ADU on land she already had. By far the most expensive part of buying a home in LA is the land, not the structure itself.