From an ADU in your backyard to 10 units. I run the whole project.
Most San Diego homeowners are sitting on a developable lot and don't know it. A 1,400 square-foot house on an 8,000 square-foot lot leaves a lot of land out back. Sometimes that's one ADU. Sometimes it's four units and a refinance that returns your equity. I run the project from feasibility through certificate of occupancy and the cash-out refinance after.
Why owners build instead ofjust selling the lot as-is.
Adding units to the property you already own changes more than the address. It changes how the property is valued, what it produces, and what your exit options become.
Property value jumps when income comes online.
A single-family home is worth what comparable homes nearby sold for. The same lot with producing units is worth its NOI capitalized at market. You're not adding 4 units. You're changing how the entire property gets valued.
Cash flow from day one.
New ADUs in San Diego rent at strong premiums to construction cost basis. Once leased up, the property pays you every month — even after the new loan service. The original house plus producing units becomes an income-generating asset.
Cash-out refinance returns your equity.
After lease-up, you refinance at the new (much higher) appraised value. Your money comes back. The new loan is serviced by your tenants. You're free to redeploy into the next project — or just keep it.
At exit, you sell a producing asset — not just a house.
A property valued on NOI sells to a different buyer pool — investors, not just families. Same lot, fundamentally different exit price. The build is your option to choose either path.
Three paths most owners take.
The right path for you is the one whose numbers work on your specific lot. Appetite, capital, and goals determine which lane you're in.
One ADU — or a garage conversion.
The most popular project for first-time builders. Add one detached ADU in the back (typically 600–1,200 sf), or convert your existing garage into a separate unit. Lower cost, smaller footprint, faster timeline. Most owners can fund this with a HELOC or renovation loan — no major capital event required.
Two to four units — then refinance and redeploy.
Build 2–4 new units alongside your existing home. Lease them up. Then refinance at the property's dramatically higher appraised value. The cash-out refinance pays off the construction loan and returns most of your original equity. This is the play most of my development clients run.
Up to ~10 units — maximum lot value.
For larger lots, multifamily-zoned lots, lots in Transit Priority Areas, or vacant single-family lots eligible for SB 1123 (effective July 2025 — up to 10 homes by-right, CEQA-exempt, 60-day approval). Bigger team, bigger budget, bigger return — and bigger feasibility burden up front.
Four California housing laws have stacked up to unlock all of this.
Every lot has a different combination available. This legal stack is a window, not a guarantee — California revisits housing laws every legislative cycle. The free lot review tells you what your lot supports today.
How a backyard turns into recurring capital.
Single-family homes appraise on comps. Multifamily properties appraise on NOI. Once your property is producing real rent, its value is no longer constrained by what your neighbors' houses sold for. That's the math behind the cash-out refinance.
Build with a construction loan.
Construction lender funds the new units. You contribute 20–35% equity; the lender funds the rest in monthly draws as work completes. Construction typically takes 9–18 months for a project this size.
Lease up to stabilized occupancy.
New units come online. Lease them at market rent. Once you reach ~90% leased, the property is officially performing as multifamily — which triggers the next step.
Refinance at the new value.
The property is reappraised — now as multifamily, valued on NOI. The new appraised value is typically much higher than the all-in cost basis. The cash-out pays off the construction loan and returns most of your equity.
Hold and redeploy.
Cash flow from new units services the permanent loan. You hold the property as a producing asset. The capital that came back on the refinance is your equity for the next project.
Here's what you'd get back from the free lot review.
Below is the kind of one-page summary I'd send back after you submit your address. Numbers are illustrative — your actual review uses your specific zoning, lot size, slope, setbacks, and neighborhood overlays.
Backyard Development Review
"Placeholder testimonial — Giovanni showed us exactly what was buildable on our lot and managed the entire project from permits to move-in. We didn't have to figure out a single step."
What I do that a contractoror agent doesn't.
Most homeowners trying to develop end up coordinating between an architect, a contractor, a lender, and a property manager — separately. They get pieces of expertise, but no one owns the timeline.
One person owns the schedule.
I run the project from feasibility through certificate of occupancy and the cash-out refinance after. Architect, engineers, contractor, lender, City — one person owning the schedule, the budget, and the communication between them. You don't manage six relationships. You manage one.
A "no" before a "go."
I lead with the proforma. If the numbers don't work on your specific lot, we don't build, and I tell you that early. Saving you from a project that wouldn't pencil is one of the most valuable things feasibility does. Most contractors get paid to start. The right answer sometimes is don't.
The financing play, not just the construction.
Most builders know how to build. Fewer understand how to structure the construction loan, time the lease-up, and set up the property to maximize the cash-out refinance. The build is one stage. The financing arc around it is what determines whether you keep your equity or hand it back to the bank.
Six stages — feasibility through refinance.
Every project moves through six stages. The framework is the same whether you're building one ADU or a 10-unit infill — the scale changes, the stages don't.
Stage 1 — Feasibility.
What's actually worth building here, and does it pencil? Four sub-activities: (a) market analysis — what units does the submarket want, at what rent; (b) site & engineering feasibility; (c) regulatory feasibility — what your specific lot allows under SB 9, ADU law, Density Bonus, SB 1123; (d) financial feasibility — a development proforma covering hard costs, soft costs, financing, lease-up, and refinance into permanent. Output: a clear go / no-go before you commit a meaningful dollar.
Stage 2 — Design & approvals.
Design through three phases: Schematic Design → Design Development → Construction Documents. Running in parallel: pre-application meeting with the City, formal submittal, plan check (multiple correction cycles are normal), permit issuance. I run the meetings, manage the timeline, and translate between the City and the design team — so you don't have to.
Stage 3 — Financing.
For Path A (one ADU), often a HELOC or renovation loan. For Path B and C: a construction loan — short-term, variable-rate, disbursed in monthly draws. The construction loan gets paid off by the permanent loan once the property reaches stabilized occupancy. I structure both, run the underwriting packages, and manage the lender relationship through funding.
Stage 4 — Construction.
Mobilization, site work, foundation, framing, MEP rough-in, inspections, drywall, finishes, final inspections, certificate of occupancy. Monthly draw requests filed with the lender. This is the stage where projects either come in on budget, or they don't. The difference is project management — change-order discipline, draw schedule oversight, weekly site walks.
Stage 5 — Marketing & leasing.
Pre-marketing begins during construction; active leasing starts 60–90 days before certificate of occupancy. Target: stabilized occupancy (90–95% leased) — because that's the trigger for the permanent loan to fund. Lease-up speed directly affects total interest cost and project profit.
Stage 6 — Operations, refinance & exit.
Once stabilized, the development period ends and the operating period begins. Refinance: the permanent loan pays off construction, the cash-out returns your equity, and you hold as a producing asset. Sell: if the goal is a one-time gain, the project can be sold to an investor at stabilized value — typically much higher than all-in cost.
Who's at the table on a small infill project.
The job of the developer is to lead and assemble the team. You can't conduct the orchestra and play the instruments at the same time.
Architect
Leads design through Schematic Design (SD) → Design Development (DD) → Construction Documents (CD). Coordinates with engineers and the City. The document quality they produce directly affects construction cost and constructability.
Engineers
Structural engineering for the building's load path. Civil for site, drainage, and utility connections. Soils (geotech) for the foundation system. On hillside or expansive-soils sites, geotech can drive significant cost decisions.
General Contractor
Bids and builds the project. Coordinates subs — framing, plumbing, electrical, finishes. Pulls permits and schedules inspections. Best practice: engaged early, during design, to inform cost and constructability before drawings are final.
Lender
Construction lender (often a community or regional bank for this size project) and the permanent lender (life insurance, agency, or bank doing 5/7/10-year fixed-rate small-balance multifamily loans). Sometimes the same institution; often not.
Real Estate Attorney
Entity formation, contract review (purchase agreement, construction contract, loan documents), and any JV structuring. On a development with passive equity, this is non-negotiable.
Me — end to end.
Running the entire project. Feasibility, team assembly, schedule, budget, lender, City, contractor, lease-up, refinance. Negotiating contracts. Walking the site. Filing draw requests. Calling the building department when plan check stalls. The role that keeps every other team member doing their job — and not waiting on someone else to do theirs.
I've actually built the things I'm talking about.
Before the UC San Diego Real Estate & Development program, I spent years on construction sites in Tijuana with my family — three generations of small developers building apartments and small commercial.
By 16, working land transactions with my mother. By 18, on construction sites with my uncles — planning, building, financing, and leasing. By 20, I had helped finance, build, and lease somewhere between thirty and sixty units across our family's projects.
Today, in San Diego, I help families do the same thing on their own lots — turning underused backyards into producing multifamily assets, running every stage of the project, and structuring the refinance that makes the play work. The construction site and the spreadsheet, both.
What can I build on your lot?
Send me the address. I'll come back with a one-page summary of what's actually buildable on your specific property — free, no obligation.
One address.Then a plan.
No fees, no obligation. Send me the address and I'll come back with a clear summary of what your lot supports under current California law — and whether the numbers work.