A construction manager comes to your property, walks it with a drone, and checks the zoning, setbacks, sewer, water, power and fire rules for your address. You get a written answer: yes, no, or what it would take, with a real all-in budget.
You get excited about a backyard house, you pay for a design, and then plan check says the sewer is too far, the panel is too small, or the tree is protected. The drawings get redone and the budget moves.
None of it is hidden. It can all be checked first. The people you'd normally ask are hoping to be hired for the build. We work for you.
About fourteen pages, written for you rather than for the city. Every section ends with a plain answer and what to do about it. It's yours to hand to any architect or builder you choose.
Example lot · Reseda 91335 · 50' × 130' · R1
↑ settle these four before you pay for plans
Detached 800 sf, 2 bed · example figures
Illustrative example, not a quote. Meter from the LADWP fee schedule.
| Option | What it looks at | Who it works for | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online ADU checkers | The zoning rules for your parcel | Nobody visits, so sewer, power, slope and trees are guesses | Free |
| A builder's free consultation | Whether they can build their product on your lot | The builder, who hopes to win the job | Free, then you're in their sales process |
| A builder's paid site study | Your lot, in person | The builder. The fee is usually credited if you build with them | About $500 to $1,200 |
| Greenlight Report | Your lot in person, from the ground and the air, against the city's rules and records | You. We don't build, and we don't pass your details to builders | $497, refunded if it wasn't worth it |
Ryan Rambo runs construction management and quality control on building projects. His job is catching the problems that cost money before they cost money, and making sure work passes inspection the first time.
Greenlight works only for homeowners. We don't build, we don't take money from builders, and our job is to make sure you go in knowing what the people selling to you know.
Enter your address to confirm we cover it. You'll see the next visit days before you pay anything.
Every visit is in person, so we group them by neighborhood on set days. When a week fills, bookings go to the next one.
If it wasn't worth it, you get your money back. Tell us within 30 days of getting your report and we refund all of it. No reason needed, and you keep the report.
The San Fernando Valley neighborhoods inside the City of Los Angeles, including Van Nuys, Reseda, North Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Northridge, Granada Hills, Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, Sylmar, Sun Valley, Tarzana and the rest. Burbank, Glendale, San Fernando and Calabasas are separate cities with their own rules, so we don't cover them yet.
A builder's consultation is how that builder finds out whether you'll hire them. Some are very good, but they're looking at your lot to sell you their build. We don't build anything, so the only thing we sell is the answer.
Often, yes. Plans in Los Angeles can require a licensed land survey or a soils report, and we don't provide either. We tell you whether your lot is likely to need them and roughly what they cost, so they're in your budget from the start.
No, as long as we can get into the yard. Most people like to be there and ask questions while we walk it.
Then you found out before paying for a design, not after. A no always comes with the reason, and when there's a way around it, we tell you what it would take.
No. We don't sell or pass your details to builders, lenders or anyone else.
An accessory dwelling unit is a second, smaller home on the same lot as your house. It can be a detached backyard house, a converted garage, or a junior unit inside your home. People build them for family, for rental income, or to move into themselves.