What you planned
Two hillside acres.
- Base zone
- allows the count you modeled
- Units in your model
- 8
Units8
The zoning table you checked.
Finance/Construction loans
Ground up construction loans. We read the city before you buy the land.
A ground up construction loan pays for a building that does not exist yet. The city decides what you can build, before the lender does.
- Built for youInvestment property financing fit to the deal: DSCR, construction or bridge.
- On timeWe read the file before you pay for the appraisal.
- One teamThe same team that found and planned the property.
What it covers
Six kinds of build, all held for income or sale.
Business purpose, in California, and not yet started.
- A single house to sellOne detached unit, built to sell. The exit is priced at the start.
- A single house to holdBuilt to let. The rental loan that takes it out is knowable today.
- Two to four unitsA duplex through a fourplex, with a rental-loan exit on the finished building.
- Five to ten unitsSmall multifamily, where the density rule bites hardest.
- An infill lotThe overlay on top of the base zone decides the count.
- Held in an LLCTitle in an entity is normal and often preferred.
The unit count
Eight units becomes two, and the listing does not say so.
In West Covina the South Hills carry a Hillside Overlay that caps density at one unit per gross acre. It sits on top of the base zone, so the table you checked never showed it.
What the overlay allows
One unit per gross acre.
- Hillside Overlay
- West Covina, South Hills
- Rule
- Development Code 26-592
Units2
Found in week one, nothing spent. Found in month four, the parcel is already bought.
The fee stack and the permit
The fee you budgeted for is the last to arrive.
- $17,000 to $44,000 a unitPasadena’s residential impact fee, before a single permit fee. Plus a construction tax of 1.92 percent of value.
- 65 percent unincorporatedOf Los Angeles County. A city mailing address does not mean the city issues the permit.
- One lookup, before an offerWhich agency, which fees, which rule. All knowable before you buy.
Sources: Pasadena FY 2026 Schedule of Taxes, Fees and Charges, sections 4.17.050 and 4.32.020 · Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning · West Covina Development Code 26-592.
The boundary
What we cannot do, said before you ask.
You get that answer in a day.
- Ground up, investment propertyOne to ten units, California, business purpose.
- Not yet startedNo ground broken, no lien recorded.
- Land you own, or are buyingEither works. The parcel is read the same way.
- A build another lender declinedBring the reason. Often it is the count, not the credit.
- Not construction already startedLien priority is compromised and no lender can control draws from the middle.
- Not for usA home you live in, a second home, anything needing a bank, property outside California.
How the loan works
Six things true of every ground up loan.
- Land, then verticalPart of the land and most of the build. Lenders speak in loan-to-cost.
- Draws against inspectionMoney releases in stages once an inspector verifies the work. How draws pay.
- Interest on what is drawnOn the balance advanced, not the full loan.
- A term with an end dateRepaid or refinanced, usually into a rental loan.
- The exit, priced firstSale, or a rental loan on the finished building.
- Entitlement is assumedMost lenders start once the permit exists. Everything above happens before.
Questions
What builders ask first.
Can I get a construction loan if I already started building?
No. Once ground is broken, lien priority is compromised and no lender can control draws from the middle. Bring the project before work starts.
What is loan-to-cost?
The loan as a share of the land and build cost. Lenders use it instead of loan-to-value because there is no value until the building stands.
How do construction draws work?
Money releases in stages after an inspector confirms the work, so your own cash carries each stage first. The draw schedule, explained.
Who issues the permit for my parcel?
The city, or the County if the parcel is unincorporated. A city mailing address does not settle it. We look it up before you make an offer.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
Send one parcel.
You get the rule, the agency and the fee stack. No application, no credit pull, no fee.
Wexmoor Circle LLC · NMLS #2841970 · Equal Housing Opportunity. Business-purpose loans on investment property in California. Information only, not a commitment to lend.
