How Free ADU Advocacy Works in Los Angeles
Free ADU advocacy means a Los Angeles family gets a professional on their side of the table — through planning, design, contractor selection, bid review, contract review, and construction — without paying for it. Four steps, from the first family conversation to long after move-in day.
The Family Conversation & Your Goals
Every family is different. Before anyone talks about builders or budgets, we talk about your family — the dynamics, the goals, the fears, the timeline, and the parent whose future is at the center of all of it.
The first call is 45–60 minutes, free, private, and carries no obligation. You don't need a budget, a design, or even a decision. Most families arrive with nothing settled beyond a feeling that the current arrangement isn't going to hold.
We map who lives where today, what changes in the next three to five years, what everyone can realistically contribute, and where the quiet disagreements are hiding. That last part matters more than most families expect — an ADU built on an unspoken assumption is an expensive way to discover it.
Design Concept & Matching With 2–3 Pre-Vetted Contractors
Based on your assessment we build a customized living plan — ADU type, layout concept, permitting approach — then introduce you to two or three pre-vetted builders who actually fit your scope, timeline, and style.
Two or three is deliberate. One bid gives you no leverage and no reference point. Seven bids gives you decision paralysis and a stack of documents nobody can compare. Three comparable bids from builders who have all done your kind of project is the number that produces a real decision.
Every contractor in the network has cleared a five-point check: active California license, current general liability and workers' comp, three or more recent client references we actually call, transparent line-item pricing, and a written quality guarantee.
Bid & Contract Review — You Never Face a Contractor Alone
We read every bid line by line and every contract clause by clause. We flag the overpriced items, name the allowances that are set artificially low, and make sure the payment schedule protects you rather than the builder.
This is the step families remember. A homeowner reading their first construction contract is negotiating against someone who has signed four hundred of them. That asymmetry is where budgets quietly break — vague scope language, change-order terms with no cap, a final payment that's already been spent by the time punch-list items surface.
Most families save $20,000–$50,000 compared with going it alone, and the ones who save the most usually save it on terms rather than on price. If you want the full method, read our guide on how to compare ADU bids the right way.
Construction Support — and Everything After
Our job doesn't end when the permit closes. We stay through construction, and then through the part nobody warns you about: actually living together.
During the build we're your second set of eyes on progress payments, schedule slips, and change orders. After move-in we help with the transition — shared agreements about money, space, meals, guests, and caregiving; conflict resolution when an arrangement starts to chafe; and referrals to senior care, in-home support, and aging-in-place specialists when a parent's needs change.
Living together is a skill, not an accident of goodwill. Families who name the rules early almost never need us later.
Who pays us, plainly
Vetted contractors pay Multi-Gen Homes a fixed referral fee — and only after your family is satisfied and chooses to move forward. Your family pays nothing at any point, and there is no version of this where a cost lands on you later.
The fee is fixed, not a percentage, which is the part that matters. A percentage would give us a reason to want your project to cost more. A fixed fee paid on your satisfaction gives us exactly one incentive: get you a builder you'd recommend to your own sibling.
Contractors accept it because a pre-qualified family with a clear scope and realistic budget is worth far more to them than the marketing spend it would take to find one. If a builder won't work under those terms, they're not in the network.
Questions families ask before starting
"I'm paid only after you're delighted. A vetted contractor pays my fee once your family is satisfied with the plan and the price — never you. That's the whole reason I can tell you the truth about a bid, even when the truth is 'walk away.'"
— Danniel Fuchs, Founder & Family Advocate, Multi-Gen Homes
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