Designing a home in Honolulu with Dream House Drafting Inc.

Joining Team Lally in this episode is Janyce Myrland,the President and Designer at Dream House Drafting, Inc.Janyce starts by telling us how she grew up in Bronx, NY and what brought her to Hawaii.  She also talks about how she was once an ice skating coach.

Read word for word below from our episode with Dream House Drafting

Adrienne: Welcome to the Team Lally real estate show, home of the guaranteed sold program or we’ll buy it. If you have any questions, just give us a call at 799-9596 or check us out on the web at www.teamlally.com.

Attilio: Well hey everybody this is the part where I talk about my mom and the disclaimer and all of that but just, here’s the short and sweet: if you hear anything on the show that sounds like legal or tax advice, that’s not what we’re doing! We’re just sharing information. So, I want to share something with you. Uh, we are part of the Keller Williams, so, at this top of the hour, I want to share just something, you know, that we can come away with and say, “I did not know that!” Keller Williams International is the brokerage that we are a part of.

Adrienne: Yes.

Attilio: What is the next country or the, that’s coming up that Keller Williams will be opening up in?

Adrienne: In the Philippines!                                                                                                                                           

Attilio: In the Philippines!

Adrienne: It’s exciting.

Attilio: It’s exciting! So, for those of you, you listeners here in Hawaii, uh, you know, keep your ears open if you’re a realtor, real estate broker, know anybody in the real estate business, if you have any connections back to the Philippines, give us a call, we’d be happy to help you with those introductions and talk to you about the opportunity about Keller Williams opening in the Philippines!

Adrienne: And also, the, the market there is, is booming. Right now, we’ve got a lot of developments and growth and reasonably-priced investment properties that you could pick up for—

Attilio: And in case you’re wondering there—

Adrienne: Reasonable amounts.

Attilio: The way that they run their, their real estate industry there, it’s very similar to the way here in the U.S. They have brokers, realtors, associates, uh, you know, so.

Adrienne: The only rule is though, if you are not a Philippines citizen, you may not purchase a home that has a, land with it, but you can buy into a condo as long as there’s not more than what? 50% ownership of that, of foreign ownership.

Attilio: Foreign ownership, yeah. Those are the things, and! Majority of the listings are for sale by owner. Very, very, very, the only time you have seller representation is in new construction but most of the, most of the realtor or licensed uh, licensed representation is all on the buy side. So, that, there’s a little bit there for a market there.

Adrienne: Interesting.

Attilio: And price points obviously are a lot different there also. In, in the good way.

Adrienne: Alright, so, I have some quotes coming from Hawaii Pacific Property Management. So, this first one’s from Maya Angelou. “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

Attilio: Nice.

Adrienne: The next one is from the Dalai Lama. “Happiness is not something ready-made; it comes from your own actions.”

Attilio: Comes from your own actions!

Adrienne: It comes from within.

Attilio: People don’t care what you say, they care what you do!

Adrienne: And the last one is from Benjamin Franklin. “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”

Attilio: Hey, you know I have a, uh, a favorite quote from, my favorite Benjamin Franklin quote is this: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Adrienne: Because you—

Attilio: Get some sleep!

Adrienne: And do you follow that one?

Attilio: Oh, not at all! No, I do! I actually—

Adrienne: I think you’ve been doing better at that.

Attilio: I’ve been, one of my biggest challenges, and you know, they talk about it, you know, for us on the show, hey, let’s talk about real-life stuff, lets’ talk about us, share, so people can relate. I know! This is a big challenge with Americans in general, not getting enough sleep!

Adrienne: Also, not drinking enough water.

Attilio: Not drinking enough water.

Adrienne: Did you know, that for each cup of coffee, you’ve got to drink 4 glasses of water to get yourself back into balance? Because it dehydrates—

Attilio: Oh, wow, to get your, to re-hydrate yourself.

Adrienne: Yes, so, keep that in mind!

Attilio: So, let’s give our listeners 3 tips to get a better night’s sleep. We’ve been studying it. Here’s one: uh, you shouldn’t have any kind of sources of, of uh, of artificial light in your bedroom or your sleep environment at all, like zero, even those little green dots by the, by the electrical outlets or your phone, or your charger. They say cover all of those things up. All those, they did a study, they put an uh, LED light under someone’s knee, these uh, these uh, in this study and that was actually disrupting their REM, their brain waves while they were sleeping. Just having an LED underneath your, underneath your knee in the bed. Like not even seen by your eyes. So, get rid of all artificial light in your room.

Adrienne: I would say also before you go to sleep, think about uh, what are you grateful for? What are three things that happened that day that you’re grateful for? Because you, you want to have a good night’s sleep and when you go to bed, it’s like, it’s got to be like a positive, like you’re ending the day on a positive note.

Attilio: No electronics before you go to sleep. TVs in the bedroom? Bad! No electronics, no looking at electronics before you go to sleep. It just, it doesn’t allow your brain to cycle down. And no working out in the late, in the latter part of the day. Like you, it’s okay to work out after work, but not right before you go to sleep because uh, the endorphins and everything is geared towards being up, and it’s hard—

Adrienne: It’ll keep you up.

Attilio: It’s hard for you to get to bed. But those are the things, and then as far as getting up, first thing when you get up, well first of all your alarm clock should be across the room. If you have issues with working out first thing in the morning, sleep in your workout clothes. Not in your tennis shoes, you can leave those off.

Adrienne: Have a big glass of water right next to your bed and just chug it! As soon as you get up.

Attilio: Yeah! Because what’s not—

Adrienne: It’ll wake you up.

Attilio: What’s not happening while you’re sleeping? What do you not do?

Adrienne: You’re dehydrated!

Attilio: You’re not drinking water.

Adrienne: Your body is dehydrated. So. Hydrate is important!

Attilio: Get a good sleep. Benjamin, Uncle Benji says get a good night’s sleep!

Adrienne: Alright, so, we’ve got uh, we’ve got Jody, the Mortgage Genius, on with her mortgage tip of the week.

Attilio: Alright, Jody, hi! What’ve you got for us?

Jody: Hey, I’ve got some good news. So—

Adrienne: Oh! We like good news.

Jody: Yeah! New, uh, requirements for Fannie Mae loans, so this would be conventional uh, minimum down 5%, those, that type of loan, anyone is eligible for a conventional loan, nothing special there. Uh, the debt-to-income ratio, so the amount of debt compared to the amount of income you have coming in, including your proposed future payment for a property that you want to purchase, currently it’s 45%. They’re bumping it up to 50%. Starting in July.

Adrienne: Nice!

Attilio: Wait, what does that mean? Because uh—

Adrienne: So, you’ll be able to qualify for more.

Jody: So, if you—

Attilio: I thought that was bad, I thought it was, when you say more.

Adrienne: Well, I mean I think—

Attilio: I don’t understand it quite.

Adrienne: It’s always going to be up to the client’s like, comfort level right, like they, they’re going to have to make their judgment call as far as what are they comfortable paying—

Attilio: Is there a light bulb over my head?

Adrienne: Like they’ll be able to qualify for more if they would like, based on their debt.

Attilio: They can have more debt. Is that what it is?

Adrienne: Yeah. Yes.

Attilio: See, I was going to, I totally ripped this line off from Denzel Washington in that show called the uh, uh—

Adrienne: I feel like there’s another show going on. On top of our show.

Attilio: Anyway. Uh.

Adrienne: Double shows.

Attilio: He said this: “Explain it to me like I’m an 11-year-old.” So, they can, you can have more debt and still qualify for more?

Jody: So, like, or if you recently talked to someone, and they said, “You qualify for $350,000.” And you were like, “Ah, man, but the place I fell in love with was $379,000. Is there any way, you know, that I can get that?” We might want to re-look at some numbers because, so, if what you, what your maximum qualification used to be or what you used to be able to qualify for if you’ve already talked to someone, you’re going to be able to qualify for more now and uh, you know, there’s a lot of situations where it’s uh, you know, family, like maybe a mom and a dad and their kids and then their mom. So, Grandma lives with us but then, Grandma can’t be on the loan but we all know she contributes and so it’s like, incentives like that where it’s like families that I know are like, “We know we can afford more, we know, we’ve done our budget, we know we can afford to pay more,” but what I’m telling them is you know, as per our guidelines, we cannot qualify you for more and so now we’re going to be able to do a little bit more, which is going to be helpful.

Attilio: Good!

Adrienne: So, if any of our listeners want to get pre-approved or talk numbers, you can give Jody and her team a call. And she’ll gladly educate you and, and help you get ready. For that pre-approval.

Jody: Yup.

Attilio: Alright, thanks, Jody!

Adrienne: Alright, thanks, Jody!

Jody: Okay, have a good day.

Attilio: Alright, where can they reach Jody at?

Adrienne: They can reach Jody at 488-5510.

Attilio: One more time.

Adrienne: 488-5510.

Attilio: What if they’re an introvert, they only want to look on the internet. They don’t like to talk to anybody just yet.

Adrienne: They can look at her website, she’s got a, a great website with a lot of information at www.pacrimmtg.com.  

Attilio: Alright. Check it out! We highly recommend Jody. You know, good/bad/ugly, she can help, solutions, very solution-oriented, very customer-service driven.

Adrienne: And she’s the Mortgage Genius.

Attilio: She’s the Mortgage Genius. Your kid’s having trouble getting into ___ school? Go sit down and do a loan consultation with Jody and I—no, I don’t know. She’s not going to improve their IQ that much.

Adrienne: (laughing) Her, the financial IQ though.

Attilio: Financial IQ!

Adrienne: She can figure stuff out. Alright, so speaking of figuring stuff out, we’ve got Brad Maruyama from Allstate Insurance!

Attilio: Hey, Brad, what’ve you got for us?

Adrienne: His insurance tip of the week.

Brad: Hey! Okay, my tip of the week. Uh, we got out the uh, we’re going to have some bad weather! Some lightning, some rain, some wind, and so my tip of the week has to do with, what do you do when your roof is leaking and your ceiling and water is coming in? Uh, first thing, you want to call your insurance agent and uh, work closely with your insurance agent and the adjustor. Do not find contracts for the roofers that you do not know because it could be lost until contract. Uh, you want to work with someone you trust and someone that the insurance company and adjustors are going to work with. So, after visiting you folks two weeks ago, you did have a roofer that you folks work closely with.

Adrienne: Yes, AAA Roofers Hawaii.

Brad: AAA Roofers Hawaii. You want to work with someone that is trustworthy. That’s not going to take your money and that’s going to replace your roof and work with the insurance company, so tip of the week. You’ve got a leak and you see shingles on the ground? Call your insurance agent right away and work with someone that is trustworthy.

Adrienne: Well, I know that uh, AAA Roofers Hawaii, they have a dedicated person, that’s all they do is they communicate with the insurance company and they, they make sure that everything that they’re going to do is going to be covered. So, like they specialize in that kind of relationship and help the clients, so.

Brad: Yeah, and, and the reason why it’s such a big tip is there’s so many people that are coming out of pocket, or they’re locked into a contract that they can’t get out of and so their, and the insurance may have approved $20,000 when the contact is paying $30,000 and now the client is stuck with the difference.

Adrienne: The difference, yeah.

Brad: So, yeah. Be very aware, work with, again, AAA Roofing or someone that you are comfortable with when you do file a claim for your roof.

Attilio: Yeah.

Adrienne: Alright, that’s a great tip, otherwise what? You could end up out of pocket! Over, you know, $10,000, over $10,000! If it’s a, if it’s a big job.

Brad: And it is something that’s happening quite frequently these days, especially with all these storms that happened in January and February so I’m still seeing these come through, come through the office but again, when there’s bad weather, that’s when you’re going to really find out if you can have a roof leak or not.

Adrienne: Alright, well that’s an awesome tip. Thanks! Thank you, Bradley!

Attilio: Thanks, Brad!

Brad: Thank you! Okay, have a good week!

Attilio: Okay, so if they’ve got more questions for Bradley and his team at Allstate, what’s the number, Adrienne?

Adrienne: You can give them a call at 591-8016, that’s 591-8016.

Attilio: Alright, next up we’ve got Duke!

Adrienne: With his property management tip of the week.

Attilio: Hey, Duke!

Duke: Hey, how are you guys doing in Honolulu?

Adrienne: We’re—

Attilio: Doing good!

Adrienne: And how are you doing in Vegas?

Attilio: How’s Vegas?

Duke: Vegas is looking pretty good!

Adrienne: I saw a lot of chips on your uh, your table there.

Duke: It’s really hot, about 105 degrees today.

Adrienne: Whew!

Attilio: Well hopefully your hands are hot too!

All: (laughing)

Duke: It’s, the tip of the week is to follow Bradley Maruyama, make sure that your property management person requires your tenants to get a loaner’s renter policy. Yup, so that’s, we require that for all of our tenants, to carry a renter’s policy in the name of uh, insurance—

Attilio: Additional insured?

Duke: Yup!

Adrienne: What is, like what does the renter’s policy do for the owners? How does that help?

Duke: It covers their personal belongings, in case there’s any loss due to fire, uh, flood, or any kind of damage to the interior, inside the drywall, and there’s also, it helps to supplement the owner’s policy on the house, too. So, the renter’s policy will take care of you if there’s a giant fire or flood. We’ve only experienced that in a couple of our units. And the owner had minimal uh, deduction to pay out.

Adrienne: Nice!

Attilio: That’s good for the tenant.

Adrienne: Yeah!

Duke: It’s great for everybody.

Attilio: Yeah, because I think a lot of tenants think, “Oh! I’m renting. I don’t need homeowner’s insurance.” But they should get renter’s insurance. Great tip.

Duke: Exactly. And I also recommend that the homeowners get uh, loss of rent coverage in case we have a big loss in there and there’s not rent coming in.

Attilio: That’s a good one.

Adrienne: And I think that, that, that, that insurance cost is, is relatively—

Attilio: Nominal.

Adrienne: Inexpensive. Yeah, Bradley came out and spoke to our team about it and it’s like, why wouldn’t you spend that extra, I think it’s maybe like $50/year something like that, it’s pretty—

Duke: Very, very inexpensive.

Adrienne: Very minimal, yeah. So, just, just, just take care of it!

Attilio: Just take care of it, you never know.

Duke: Alright.

Attilio: Alright, oh, Duke! So, speaking of rent, you guys have a rent guarantee, what’s that about?

Duke: We do! If we don’t rent your home in 30 days or less, we’ll pay that amount of rent.

Attilio: Alright.

Duke: We also have an eviction guarantee that says that if we put the tenant in your unit and they pass all of our qualifications, and if we have to evict them, we cover all the costs.

Attilio: Take care of the headaches and the costs.

Adrienne: So, there’s no risk working with uh, Hawaii Pacific Property Management.

Attilio: There is a risk! If you don’t work with them!

Adrienne: Yes, that is the risk!

Duke: (laughing)

Attilio: If you like stress in your life, don’t call Duke, but if you, if you want to reduce stress in your life, give him a call. Especially if you have an investment property. Alright, thanks Duke!

Duke: 808-445-9223. Thanks!

Adrienne: Thanks!

Attilio: And good luck!

Adrienne: Yes. Alright, so that’s Duke Kimhan of Hawaii Pacific Property Management. Again, you can reach him at 445-9223.

Attilio: I know the listeners are going wait a minute, he’s in Vegas! How is he going to keep an eye on my property?

Adrienne: (laughing)

Attilio: We operate in, he operates in a team!

Adrienne: Yes! He’s got, his team members back here on island and assistants and everybody is, is working well to, to cover and obviously too he’s available but, if there’s a major issue.

Attilio: You know, and that brings up a point. If you’re working with a professional or individual, you want to know that they have an assistant or a team or somebody because if they’re just, the sole person, they never take vacations, never take breaks. Over time, over time, you know, it’s just, it’s not good, it’s not, it’s not good, it’s not sustainable to provide a high level of service, if you don’t have some type of, if you don’t go on a vacation!

Adrienne: Everyone needs to reset and recharge. It’s important.

Attilio: If anything, if you’re doing business with a professional, ask them, what happens when you go on vacation? “Well, I have so-and-so to take care of this and he will cover that and this and that.” Because you want your professionals going on vacation so they don’t get all burned out.

Adrienne: Alright, so, I think we’re going to take a, a short break. But when we come back, we’ve got a very special guest that’s in-studio.

Attilio: In-studio.

Adrienne: So, stay with us!

Attilio: Okay!

[Music fades to commercials]

Announcer: The Team Lally real estate show continues!

Adrienne: Welcome back and thanks for listening to the Team Lally real estate show, home of the guaranteed sold program, or we’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne—

Attilio: And I’m Attilio!

Adrienne: If you have any questions just give us a call at 799-9596 or check us out on the web at www.teamlally.com.  

Attilio: Well hey, we’ve got somebody in the studio, our guest today is the president and designer at Dream House Drafting Incorporated and has provided uh, design and drafting services to Hawaii customers for over 20 years!

Adrienne: She’s a graduate of the New York City College of Technology and holds a degree in design and drafting technology.

Attilio: She prides herself in her ability to translate a client’s wishes into construction documents and believes that each person’s home should be their castle.

Adrienne: Please welcome our guest, Janyce Myrland!

Attilio: Welcome, Janyce.

Adrienne: Of Dream House Drafting.

Janyce: Thank you!

Adrienne: Thank you for joining us in the studio. Usually you’re calling in with your tip, but we’ve got you all to ourselves for this whole radio show, so thank you!

Attilio: Alright, so, uh, kind of local style business, you know, we took a class from Glen, what was it, Glen Pyuria. He teaches a class called Local, Local Leadership. Local-style Leadership and he just talks about, you know, you have different cultural differ—uh, cultural differences and different uh, states, countries, communities, regarding business. One of them in Hawaii is like, we like to get to know the person a little bit before we get into the business. So, Janyce, tell us about yourself. Are you from Hawaii, are you from somewhere else, how did you get here?

Janyce: I am originally from the Bronx, New York and I’ve lived here for 30 years.

Attilio: Hey, you’re local.

Janyce: You got it!

All: (laughing)

Adrienne: And you’re an ice skater! An ice-skating coach at one time, that was like a fun little interesting fact about Janyce.

Janyce: I was one of those people who always wanted lessons, parents had other financial priorities, get the teeth straight, you know, get them into the schools, that sort of thing. So, it was my hobby during college and after and when I moved here I learned that I had enough test under my belt to actually teach skaters and I continued taking tests and skating for myself here locally while teaching little ones all the way up to senior citizens and taking some students to mainland competitions.

Attilio: Oh, wow! Now is this all at Ice Palace? Or?

Janyce: Yup! It’s the only place in the state!

Attilio: The only place, right?

Adrienne: So, when was the last time you put some skates on?

Janyce: Unfortunately, someone ran into my car a couple years ago, so, I’m kind of limited as to what I’m allowed to do on the ice and I’ve been really busy so, it’s been probably a year and a half since I last went there but I’m not allowed to jump, it’s boring.

Attilio: Yeah. What are the, what are the moves, are they called? What are they called, those moves? That skaters do?

Janyce: Okay, so you have your—

Attilio: A triple ___, I remember that.

Janyce: Oh, you’re going to go for the high-level freestyle maneuvers. You have freestyle maneuvers, you have footwork that’s mandatory in all programs, and you also have a basic figure people used to have to do back in the day, so, they would be 8s or serpentines, which are 3 8s. Now they’ve kind of changed them a bit but you have like full rink patterns that you have to do. Some of them only on one foot from one push, so, it tests your ability for balance and the ability to generate speed from what, you know, what practically no assistance.

Adrienne: So, you’ve taken all of your, your technical training of skating and coaching on the ice rink, to helping people when they’re in their homes and the, the, I think it involves the same kind of like technical skills that you, your—

Attilio: Attention to detail.

Adrienne: Yes, and analyzing like, okay, this is what you need to do in order to get this skill and you know, you take that expertise and the coaching.

Janyce: Yeah, they are both technical and you do have very strict rules in each, like for example, in skating, you will get uh, points off if your program is too long or too short. So, you have to make sure the music is exact, you have to make sure that you don’t have uh, maneuvers that are not allowed because they are too advanced for your skater. You have to make sure that it fits within all the particular rules, but you know, I would say I really enjoy designing also, of course the building department, well that’s another story but uh (laughing) the one difference is, I would say is, if you’re driving down the road and you hear a good piece of music, architecture does not jump in front of your eyeballs. It’s, you know—

Adrienne: And I’m sure—

Janyce: Skating maneuvers.

Adrienne: Well, when you’re driving down the road, you’re looking at homes a little differently than the average person. You’re going to appreciate, you know, certain types of design, right, whereas like, for the layperson, we don’t, we don’t know any difference or like how technical or advanced that type of design is.

Janyce: And I just returned from a mainland trip, so, it’s like, you know, you get to look at how things are done differently and also the reasons why, so, it’s kind of cool.

Attilio: Yeah.

Adrienne: So, so, why are things done differently here in Hawaii? And where, where were you at? On the mainland?

Janyce: Oh, I was in New York, helping my elderly parents move out of a home that had you know, too many narrow corridors and too many, too-tall stairs, which is one of the good things about building codes. As they evolve, they work to the betterment of everybody. And so, now they’re in a house that’s all one-level.

Adrienne: Oh, good!

Attilio: I think you make, yeah, you make a good point. Everybody kind of looks at, focus too much on the pain in the butt aspect of permits and zoning and all of that, but if we didn’t have that, I think, you know, a great example of that is I guess when the, they had the, the plague uh, in uh, Chinatown and then somebody started burning something and then because the houses were all stacked in close to each other, almost half of Chinatown burned down, back in the 1800s because there was no code back then, right? No setbacks. So, let’s talk, speaking of uh, uh, you, we crossed paths with you because we needed somebody who could help us with uh, permits after-the-fact, which are a big, big challenge here in Hawaii when you’re buying or selling real estate. Tell us, that’s how we came to you, how did you come to being in this type of business?

Janyce: I came to being in this type of business because when I lived on the mainland using my degree, it covered all types of design and drafting, it’s kind of a blanket course complete with you know, certain amount of calculation required. The majority of the work that I did while I lived on the mainland was high-speed machinery. Straight out of college because there was a lot of manufacturing on the northeast corridor so I worked for Printing Press Accessories, and the last job I had on the mainland, we were doing dialysis equipment.

Adrienne: Oh, wow!

Janyce: But, then you come to Hawaii and there’s no manufacturing, so, um, came to find that the majority of jobs out here that related to drawing, design, plans, all related to architecture. Which I had a basis in, uh, and I embarked on learning codes and I used to work for the company doing their overflow work for kitchen designs and things like that. And then I took some CEU classes and got some designations from the NAHB and Aging and Place and Green Design. Kind of adding to my basis and also getting some you know, in the field, real knowledge.

Attilio: Okay. Could you describe for us, the kind of like, most of the, the, there’s a bell curve of the clients that you work with right and you can have people on the outer ends of the spectrums but, what would you say is the majority of the type of clients or the work that you’re doing for clients?

Janyce: Uh, I’ve done everything from brand-new homes to people who just need interior remodels and then a lot of realtor clients who are people who are either purchasing or have purchased a place that has modifications that nobody’s documented. So, there’s a big variety and it changes from year to year. Uh, I have designed like over 28 brand-new homes. Uh, but I’d say I’ve done way more remodels than that.

Attilio: Remodels, yeah, because here in Hawaii, expensive, not too many people cranking out brand new homes left and right over here, right?

Janyce: And most of the ones who were, were actually using their equity and the home was really, really old. And they were just taking it down and putting up a new one.

Adrienne: Alright. What would you say is your most interesting project that you’ve worked on over the years? One that maybe like stands out the most to you.

Janyce: That’s a hard question. Uh, hmm.

Adrienne: Or maybe what is what—

Janyce: All of my projects have a lot of homeowner input, that’s why I have that logo statement that says your home should be your castle. I try very hard to give people the benefit of knowledge that I’ve picked up, knowledge in terms of building codes, knowledge you know, that’s been shared with me from contractors, knowledge in reference to costs. Uh, one of the things I try to tell people, is don’t make your home so specific to you that even though you think you’ll never sell it, but if you do have to sell it, that, someone else doesn’t feel that they can’t make it their own.

Attilio: And even if you never sell it, you aren’t taking it with you! And your kids, or your heirs are going to have to sell it.

Janyce: Right.

Attilio: So, speaking of your home being a castle, have you designed any moats? Dungeons? Or turrets?

Janyce: Uh, no turrets.

Adrienne: Not yet!

Janyce: And I think the animals that you normally keep in a moat, you can’t bring here.

Attilio: No moats.

Janyce: So, no, none of those. But I mean, you know, one person’s castle is someone else’s uh, junk pile you know? It’s all strictly related to what each person’s comfort level is. Which brings me to something I’ve always wanted to tell you guys. If you have clients that are not stuck with the unfortunate circumstance of unpermitted work, but they’re saying, look, we’re going to buy but we definitely want to customize, we want to remodel, we can help them with that! Also, it’s not just, you know, after-the-fact stuff.

Adrienne: So, so, if they have like an area that they really like, but they can’t find any homes that really fit them, they can still buy and then you guys can help make the home exactly what it is.

Janyce: They can make it what they like!

Attilio: Find the home that gets 70% of their needs and you’ll come in with the other 30%.

Adrienne: I love that. That’s a solution!

Attilio: Your, your—

Adrienne: Had a lot of buyers like that, that could use that service.

Janyce: Really?

Adrienne: I do.

Attilio: So, your first tagline is uh, “Your home should be your castle,” and your second one should be, uh, “Another person’s castle may be, may be another person’s house of horrors.”

All: (laughing)

Attilio: Just it’s all about perspective.

Janyce: Well, you know, I’ll give you an example. There are homes that have a powder room very close to the kitchen. And this is something you see in certain areas in a certain timeframe. There are people who have added that and there are people who will turn around and walk out the door at an open house the minute they see that. That is an extreme pet peeve. Now, you can remove it. Okay, but there, but that’s the level of difference between people’s personal preferences. And you might have a very hard time convincing, I mean a typical powder room is going to be what, 5 X 6, maybe slightly bigger. That’s 30 square feet. You can make a lovely pantry. If you take it out. But, I personally know people who I’ve been at open houses with, you know that would be like total anathema, they’re out the door.

Adrienne: They don’t even think like, “Oh, I could just convert it! I love everything else about the home.”

Janyce: They’re just like, “This is unspeakable! I’m out of here!”

Attilio: Yup, they go to uh, powder room anonymous courses and classes late in the evenings. What uh, you know, speaking of design, what are you seeing as something that people are like, uh, requesting more and more—

Adrienne: Yes, what’s trending?

Attilio: Making the house more, more user-friendly or useful?

Janyce: Now you’re making me wish that I had gotten to read that article that just came to me. Uh, there’s always things that are trending. You know, uh, it seems very much that people are interested in having more health benefits to their home. So, you know, air baths, uh, are seeming to get a little bit more popular than the standard jet tub in the master bedroom. Uh, people are definitely liking their shower to be more cozy and comfy. Uh, aging a place is always a value.

Adrienne: Especially, especially here in Hawaii with the silver tsunami. Right?

Attilio:  Yeah, we have more uh, I think people in the 60, 60 and above, 80 and above per capita than actually most of the states. People live longer here, they like living here, our weather is very nice. No one says, “Oh, this weather over here, I’m going to move to Minnesota, it’s too, the weather is just too, the same all the time. I need to move to Minnesota where it’s 10 below.”

Janyce: People are also interested in uh, not necessarily having a total smart home, but having smart home features. Uh, I know that I have been trying to, in many places, for lots of different customers, making sure that I integrate some sort of a charging station area so that you can, you know, have a designated place when you come home that all the cell phones go to, iPads, etc. And that it’s organized and it’s neat.

Attilio: That’s a great idea because I, a lot of times, that stuff’s like all over the place, I know at our house, we’ve got iPads behind the couch, they’re all over the kitchen, the phones, and just everywhere and I, it doesn’t, that’s the stuff you clean up when you have guests, right, you want to unplug everything and put it all away.

Janyce: And there are some neat products that have been on the market for a long time. I’m thinking of one particular company that specializes in making a variety of uh, outlets. They’ll have ones that you totally recess into your countertop and they’re waterproof if you want to put them on the island. You push a button and it pops up. You’ve got electrical outlet, USB, uh, charging, you know, whatever.

Attilio: Oh, nice, so you don’t have to go find the little box that connects tote h plug that goes to your phone, you can skip the little box.

Janyce: Exactly.

Attilio: Go from the USB straight into the wall.

Adrienne: So fancy!

Attilio: That little pop-up thing yeah we’re used to seeing that at like fancy conference rooms but—

Adrienne: Yeah, I like that. You can have it in your, in your own house!

Janyce: And I think when they started them, they were designing them from labs. So, that’s why they make them waterproof, so you don’t have to worry but a lot of homeowners are scared of them, they’re like, “Oh, oh. Water’s going to get in there.” No, no it won’t.

Attilio: I think that’s important because that, that kitchen island or the kitchen counter, that’s the new study for the kids nowadays, they don’t, they’re not, none of the kids are, are, are, you know, a lot of the homes aren’t designed so that’s where they end up. Either that or your formal dining if you have one. Where nobody does any formal dining. That’s where all the kids to their homework.

Janyce: Well, the kitchen has become the hub of the house and that’s why this, the trend of design where it used to be that it was boxed away and whoever was the designated kitchen worker was kind of not part of the entertainment and the party, that’s gone now. So, everybody’s kind of has an open concept.

Adrienne: The open kitchen. Yeah!

Janyce: So, you can, everything flows from one room to the other.

Attilio: Alright, so, we’re getting ready to take a break?

Adrienne: Yeah, we’re going to take a short break, but stay with us, we’ve got more questions for Janyce Myrland of Dream House Drafting.

Attilio: Talking about home design. 

[Music fades to commercials]

Announcer: It’s the Team Lally real estate show. Here’s Adrienne and Attilio.

Adrienne: Welcome back and thanks for listening to the Team Lally real estate show, home of the guaranteed sold program or we’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne—

Attilio: And I’m Attilio.

Adrienne: If you have any questions just give us a call at 799-9596 or check us out online at www.teamlally.com.  

Attilio: Well hey listeners if you’re just tuning in, we’ve got Janyce Myrland from uh, Dream House Drafting. Uh, two topics we want to get into before we uh, move on to our open house are—

Adrienne: Well, you know, real quick—

Attilio: Oh, you want to talk about something else. Go for it.

Adrienne: Well, I just wanted to just point out that you can uh, check Janyce out on www.dreamhousedrafting.com.  

Attilio: What website?

Adrienne: Www.dreamhousedrafting.com. And she has a lot of helpful information and blogs and all sorts of just helpful tips that are, having to pertain to permits and design and you can also uh, contact her through that website.

Attilio: Alright, so let’s get into our topics that we wanted to cover. We talked, we were talking about it during the break, and uh, one of them is going to be after-the-fact permits and then the other one was the uh, ADU, accessory dwelling units?

Adrienne: Yes.

Attilio: So, these seem to be hot topics in our real estate market today so, so, tell us about after-the-fact permits, what, what’s some key things that people should know?

Janyce: Uh, key things that people should know first and foremost is grandfathering is pretty much gone. So, everything has to meet current code. Uh, we have to provide, even if the city does not have plans on file because of the age of the property, we have to document pretty much how things are and what’s been altered. Uh, let’s see, what else can we mention? It’s, it’s kind of a nuisance factor that people should understand more than anything else with after-the-fact permitting, that every building permit includes the visit by the appropriate inspectors. Be they building inspector, always, plumbing inspector, electrical inspector. These people are charged with keeping all of us safe and they cannot make guesses so, therefore, in 99.99% of your after-the-fact building permits, they are going to have to ask for something to be opened up.

Attilio: Oooh! Because they, you, you mean these inspectors don’t have X-ray vision?

Janyce: No!

Adrienne: Not yet.

Attilio: They can’t see through walls? And into concrete to—

Janyce: Imagine what one could charge who had that.

Attilio: Superman! After-the-fact permits!

All: (laughing)

Janyce: So, that means, you know, if the after-the-fact, if the work that wasn’t documented say was done prior to 2008, when there was a big change in the electrical code, locally, you know, then there’s a great possibility that when things are looked at, they’re not going to pass. Which means they have to be upgraded, so people need to realize that if you are a person selling a property, you have this after-the-fact stuff that you want to get out of your hair, off your conscience, not needing to be disclosed because you’re going to handle it before marketing the property—

Attilio: Which is the smart move.

Janyce: Then you are going to definitely have to have a contractor double check, make sure that things are as they should be and your’ going to be required to have a licensed general contract sign your building permit because unless you’re going to keep the property for a year after the closing of the permit, you may not do an owner builder permit.

Attilio: And that’s the restriction right, they can’t sell the property if they do owner permit?

Janyce: For one year.

Adrienne: For at least a year.

Janyce: Yes, and that restriction is in place to put a damper on the amount of house flipping that goes on and these people are pretty old with their advertising with what they’ve done and most of the times there’s no permits. And they’ve also added to the penalties. Within the last 2 years of that particular law. So, it’s pretty hefty. 

Adrienne: So, so, on average, if like, okay, so you had the choice, okay, I’m going to build this and I’m not going to get a permit, how much more do you end up paying for that after-the-fact permit versus if you were just to do it right from the beginning?

Attilio: Depends on the situation, right?

Janyce: Well, as you guys know, there is a fine uh, type of protocol that the city has and that’s going to depend now pretty much on do you know, do they know about what’s going on? Because once the building inspector has been informed, whether it’s because uh, you just bought this place and the neighbors are ratting you out, or because the inspector was in the neighborhood and noticed construction going on, once they know about it, then they’re obligated to write you up and notice of violation comes along with a, a time-frame in which they want you to have a permit applied for and then after that, you have fines which are daily. Now, they’re ___ when they start, but as time goes by, it adds up and it gets pretty scary.

Attilio: Yeah, like a snowball.

Adrienne: So, depending if you have fines involved, it could be very expensive to do the after-the-fact.

Janyce: It also depends on what was done. Does it require some sort of structural changes and review? People should also be aware of the fact that not everything that you think is a great idea is going to be permissible. So, if you’ve done something that cannot remain, then it’s going to have to be removed and the rest of the building where it attached to it is going to have to be put back right.

Adrienne: To the original.

Janyce: The way it’s supposed to be.

Attilio: Yah, that jacuzzi in your kitchen.

Adrienne: It could be very costly.

Attilio: The jacuzzi in your kitchen is a great idea on paper.

All: (laughing)

Janyce: If you bring a problem forward to the city, in other words, you just bought this house and you discovered, oh my goodness, there’s unpermitted work, and you bring it forward, then they’re not necessarily charging the fines or the double fee penalty. But if its brought to them, then they have no choice.

Attilio: Gotcha. So, do, you know, go, as we all like to say, go slow in the beginning to hurry up in the end and the hurrying up in the end is when you want to go sell or sell this property.

Adrienne: Or, if you’re going to make any changes, just give Janyce a call and—

Attilio: That’s the easy way.

Adrienne: She will help to make sure that it’s done correctly and that it’s within the law.

Attilio: Now, the—

Adrienne: So, that it doesn’t cost you extra money in the long run.

Janyce: Because a lot of people are told misinformation. A lot of urban legend out there.

Attilio: Speaking of—

Adrienne: Just get it verified with Janyce.

Attilio: Well speaking of urban legend, uh, yeah, the big one is like, oh, my uncle’s a general contractor, he did that all with a permitted work and then come to find out, no! How many people out there with uncles that say they’re general contractors? Must be uh, 80% of all the work was done by an uncle who said he was licensed. General contractors.

Adrienne: Just call Janyce. Just double check.

Attilio: Speaking of which uh, you had mentioned this on a previous call-in, that don’t automatically assume because they’re being referred to you through a big box, like a Home Depot, or Lowes—

Adrienne: That they’re licensed.

Attilio: That they’re licensed because we have come across situations where they were not!

Janyce: Well we came across a situation where licensed people, who should know better, were taking advantage of this lady. And she’s military, so she doesn’t know whether she’s going to be able to stay here, which she would ideally like to do or whether she’s going to get transfer orders and she was trying to get everything together. And so, they had made all these alterations and removed walls, created beautiful open concept, new kitchen, redone the bath, outdoor kitchen, all kinds of stuff, and didn’t uh, apply for a permit. Now, oddly she used another big box for her fence, they had a permit. For a fence!

All: (laughing)

Adrienne: Not for a kitchen!

Janyce: A vinyl fence, okay? No electrical, no plumbing, no structural, they had a permit, but the other people, we won’t say who they were, they didn’t, their people that they, they don’t, they have their own license but it’s a special license that allows them to sub to license contractors. And the ones they used did not have permits.

Adrienne: They didn’t follow, they didn’t follow the protocol.

Attilio: Well a lot of times when you look at people’s marketing, they’re going to say construction but they’re not going to say necessarily design and I think a lot of consumers default—

Adrienne: They get confused.

Attilio: Well they default to the general contractor, assuming that they know what they’re doing! As far as the permit and designs and whether things are compliant or not, but you’ve got to, either you’ve got to have that—

Adrienne: That balance. You’ve got to build and work together.

Attilio: Or you bring in a third part, like, like, uh, Dream House Drafting, so think—

Janyce: Well, you’ve also got to remember, they’re not going to live there so, yes, they’re supposed to know and be up on all the laws with reference to what permits are required and code and all of that sort of thing, but since they don’t live there, preference and style may not be yours, because I know, I had a client, her project came out really nice, but you know, she had to do battle with one contractor who assured her that she would never use the big soaker tub, and I was like, what does this guy know, what—

Adrienne: What you would or wouldn’t do, yeah.

Janyce: And he also didn’t want her to have the vaulted ceiling that she wanted in her addition. And I was like, does this guy know you from long ago? And she goes, “No!”

Adrienne: He would be living here with you?

Attilio: We learned this in our career visioning class we take. The only way you truly get to know someone is what?

Adrienne: Is if when, when you live with them.

Attilio: When you live with them! So, unless your general contractor’s willing to stay with you for a year in your extra bedroom, do what you want to do, not what they want you to do.

Adrienne: Alright, well, before we bring on our open house uh, agents here, let’s talk about the ADUs.

Attilio: Yeah, what’s uh, give us the top 3 things we need to know about accessory dwelling units, you know, that uh, that extra room.

Janyce: Top 3 things you need to—first one: you need a pre-check okay? Even if your property seems to match and, and meet all the basic requirements. A pre-check goes through all of the permit, building permit departments to say whether or not your specific lot can have one. There are issues with reference to street width, and sometimes issue that you cannot determine with reference to sewer capacity.

Attilio: Gotcha, so, pre-check!

Adrienne: So, give Janyce a call, she can help you determine if you’re even eligible to have this ADU. Before you start spending money on design and—

Attilio: It’s probably the number one tip. Check it out before you do it. Should make a song, maybe, Howard can write a jingle. (singing) “Hey, if you’re thinking about getting an ADU, get a pre-check! Pre-check!”

Adrienne: So, pre-check. Any other tips on the ADUs?

Janyce: Uh, secondly, a lot of people don’t realize that there is a provision if the space is existing and already permitted but exceeds 800 square feet that it can be considered for an ADU.

Adrienne: That’s nice.

Janyce: So, it’s an extra consideration that it has to do through but it is a possibility. This does not apply to any unpermitted enclosures. It applies specifically to spaces that are documented with the city.

Attilio: So, it’s better to be Ed McMahon than Homer Simpson.

Adrienne: Yeah.

Attilio: Ed McMahon, he, he—

Adrienne: He said, “I did not know that.”

Attilio: He learned something and he goes, “I did not know that.” Homer Simpson, he learns after-the-fact and he goes, “D’oh!”

All: (laughing)

Attilio: So better to be Ed McMahon. Alright.

Adrienne: Anything on the ADUs that you’d like to share with our listeners before we bring on our open house agents?

Janyce: Yeah, this is kudos to the building department. They, and initially when they started the ADU pre-check program, they did not have a means of tracking when your pre-check was. So, now you can, you know, check with them and they can actually—

Adrienne: Track you progress.

Janyce: They can actually acknowledge that yeah, we have that one.

Adrienne: Good, it’s always good to be able to keep track of your, your progress and your paperwork and—

Attilio: Are they going to have like webcams inside the office, you know, DPP gone wild, where we can watch them work and see if they’re moving the files along, no?

Janyce: I don’t think you want to mess with that.

All: (laughing)

Attilio: Alright, well thanks, Janyce for being on the show!

Adrienne: Yes, thank you, Janyce.

Janyce: Thanks for having me.

Attilio: Again, what’s the uh, what’s the uh, best phone number?

Adrienne: So, you can reach Janyce at 206-7107, also check her out online at www.dreamhousedrafting.com.  

Attilio: Alright. Okay.

Adrienne: Alright, so we’ve got, we’ve got Kevin. Kevin on the line.

Attilio: Kevin, what’ve you got for us?

Kevin: Hey! Adrienne and Attilio, yes! This Sunday, can you hear me?

Adrienne and Attilio: Yes!

Kevin: Alrighty, so this Sunday, Father’s Day, from 2-5 p.m., I will be sitting the grand open house at 98-703 ___ Place, #1601 in ___. But this home is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath unit with a little over 1100 square feet of living space. It’s in excellent condition, move-in ready, you know, this condo also includes so much amenities. You know, such as a barbeque area, a clubhouse, an exercise room, a pool, a recreational area, resident manager, you know and so much more. This home is listed for $420,000. If you know a father out there, that is looking for the perfect home, come by and check this one out! This would make the perfect gift for a Father’s Day special, right, and again, this Sunday, Father’s Day, from 2-5 p.m., I’ll be sitting grand open, so this open house at 98-703 ___ Place, #1601 in ___.

Attilio: Alright, blow your, blow your father’s mind, go buy him a condo!

Adrienne: (laughing) There you go!

Kevin: (laughing) There you go! Alrighty, thank you Adrienne and Attilio!

Attilio: Thanks, Kevin!

Adrienne: So, that’s that colonnade on the green.

Attilio: Colonnade on the green. A lot of—

Adrienne: Very nice. Nice community, it is.

Attilio: I like that complex. Yeah, a lot of green space all the way around, they’re not all packed up with a whole bunch of condos all over the place.

Adrienne: So, there’s some, some other events that are coming up here, we’ve got a Career Night coming up July 3rd, from 5-6, that’s going to be happening at our office.

Attilio: Yeah, basically they’re kind of like what, the first Monday of every other month?

Adrienne: Yes.

Attilio: Check out our website

Adrienne: Alright, so, we want to thank you and thank you to our sponsors!

Attilio: Jodie Tanga and Derek Tanga of Pacific Rim Mortgage!

Adrienne: Bradley Maruyama of Allstate Insurance!

Attilio: Nathan Baker of Pillar to Post Home Inspections!

Adrienne: Ben and Tony Mamood of AAA Roofers Hawaii!

Attilio: Janyce Myrland with Dream House Drafting!

Adrienne: John Speed of Kilauea Pest Control!

Attilio: Duke Kimhan with Hawaii Pacific Property Management!

Adrienne: Mike Metts of Kama’aina Plumbing!

Attilio: And . . . who else?

Adrienne: Thomas Pattison with Pattison Land Surveying!

Attilio: And Myron Kamihara with Kamihara Law! If you want to get ahold of any of our sponsors, just go to www.teamlally.com.

Adrienne: We also want to give a big thank you to Janyce, for joining us here and our producer, Lea, here in the studio!

Attilio: Make sure to tune in next week, we’re going to have one of our awesome guests talking about something that’ll change your life—forever.

Adrienne: This is the Team Lally real estate show, home of the guaranteed—

Adrienne and Attilio: SOLD PROGRAM!

Adrienne: If we can’t sell your home at the agreed-upon price and your time frame we’ll have it bought for cash!

Adrienne and Attilio: THANKS, AND ALOHA!