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Program 03
Ground-Up Construction in Los Angeles
Ground up construction loans built for Los Angeles investors.
We fund ground-up construction in most states, up to 70% LTV and 85% of cost, with draws that keep pace with your build. In Los Angeles County, that reaches both a Pacific Palisades rebuild permitted through the City and an Altadena rebuild permitted through the County, two separate permit counters for two neighboring burn areas. It also reaches an accessory dwelling unit on an existing rental parcel, a ministerial approval with no owner-occupancy string attached under state law. Business-purpose only, and every term is set in underwriting.
70%
max LTV
85%
of cost
Most states
funding
$5M
max loan
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
We finance both the land and the vertical construction, with a draw schedule built around your timeline. Experienced builders can access higher leverage on cost.
Who it's for
Spec home builders
Developers and operators
Lot purchase or teardown
Build-to-rent strategies
Typical terms
Loan amountUp to $5M
LeverageUp to 70% LTV / 85% LTC
Term12 to 24 months
DrawsPer build schedule
RateFrom 10.00%*
UseSpec or build-to-rent
*Typical terms, subject to underwriting and market conditions.
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Local FAQ
Ground-Up Construction in Los Angeles, answered.
My lot is in Pacific Palisades. Is that a City of Los Angeles permit or a Los Angeles County permit?
Pacific Palisades is City of Los Angeles; Altadena, a few miles away, is unincorporated Los Angeles County and permits through County Public Works instead. The two January 2025 fires burned through neighboring areas that answer to entirely different permit counters, so a rebuild plan that works in one does not automatically transfer to the other. Confirm which jurisdiction your parcel sits in before you scope the build.
How fast are fire rebuild permits actually moving, and can I count on a specific timeline for my construction loan?
We cannot give you a timeline, and neither can anyone else with a straight face. Nearly 13,000 homes were destroyed across the two fires, and at the one-year mark roughly 2,600 residential rebuild permits had been issued across Palisades and Altadena with about 3,340 more under review, with local governments issuing permits reported at about three times the five-year pre-fire pace. But permitting is not construction: reporting at the 13-to-14-month mark found roughly 44% of Altadena owners held a fully approved permit while only about 30% had actually started building. Rebuild cost per square foot, appraised values of completed rebuilds, and fire-area construction-loan volume are not published anywhere we could verify, so we will not quote them and you should be skeptical of anyone who does. Size your draw schedule and your budget in underwriting, not off a headline permit count.
What expedited pathways exist for a like-for-like fire rebuild?
Several, and they are worth using if your rebuild matches the destroyed home's rough dimensions and design. State and local orders direct faster review of like-for-like rebuilds, the Governor suspended certain code requirements, Los Angeles County offers self-certification plus an Archistar eCheck AI pilot for plan review, pre-approved plan sets are available, the County runs a permitting one-stop, and the Board of Supervisors approved permit-fee relief for wildfire survivors. None of that adds up to a promised number of days, and we will not tell you one.
Investors are buying burned lots in Palisades and Altadena. Does a lot purchase need construction financing or a purchase loan?
It needs construction financing, because an empty lot is not a finished collateral position. In the third quarter of 2025, investors bought about 40% of the lots that sold in the Palisades ZIP code 90272 and about 44% of those sold in the Altadena ZIP code 91001, and vacant Palisades lots on the market badly outnumbered lots that actually sold. A lot buyer's next step is a build, and that is a ground-up construction loan, not a straight acquisition loan.
Is an accessory dwelling unit a good use of ground-up construction financing on an existing Los Angeles County rental?
Often, because state law makes an ADU one of the few ways to add a unit to an existing Los Angeles parcel without an owner-occupancy requirement. Approval is ministerial with a statutory decision clock, and the City runs a Standard Plan Program of pre-reviewed designs that is reported to shorten plan check well below a custom design's timeline; verify the current review time with LADBS before you set your schedule, since no county-published ADU permit count exists to check it against. An ADU built to rent can move an otherwise thin Los Angeles yield into range for a DSCR rental loan once it is finished and leased.
Is new-construction permitting picking up across Los Angeles County outside the fire zones?
Yes, off a 2024 trough. Total privately owned housing units authorized in Los Angeles County ran 23,284 in 2021, 26,572 in 2022, 24,286 in 2023, dropped to 19,809 in 2024, and rebounded to 22,250 in 2025. Part of that 2025 rebound lines up with fire rebuild activity and ADU volume, though that link is our reading of the timing rather than a published attribution. Either way, the permit counters countywide are busier than they were two years ago.
How much of a Los Angeles build do I have to fund myself?
Roughly 15% of total cost, and the finished-value test can push it higher. We fund up to 85% of cost and up to 70% LTV on the finished value, whichever is lower. On a $1,000,000 Los Angeles County project cost that is up to $850,000 from us and $150,000 from you (1,000,000 x 85% = 850,000), with the money released in draws against your build schedule rather than up front. Size that budget in underwriting: rebuild cost per square foot in the fire areas is not published anywhere we could verify, so we will not price your build off a headline number and neither should you. Subject to underwriting.
Do you check credit on a Los Angeles ground-up construction loan?
We run it, but there is no minimum score on this program. Construction is asset-based lending, so credit carries far less weight than it would at a bank, and a weaker file is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline. There is no hard credit pull to start. We also do not ask for W-2s or pay stubs; the loan qualifies off the project and the equity, which is the point for a lot buyer whose capital is tied up in a burned parcel rather than in income documents. Subject to underwriting.
Do I need a builder track record to get funded in Los Angeles?
No, but experience changes your leverage. Experienced builders can access higher leverage inside the up to 70% LTV and 85% LTC band; a first project usually prices at the conservative end of it. That gap is worth knowing in Palisades and Altadena, where investors bought about 40% of the lots sold in ZIP code 90272 and about 44% of those sold in 91001 in the third quarter of 2025, and every one of those buyers now has a build in front of them. Bring your general contractor and your scope to the first call. Subject to underwriting.
How large a Los Angeles project will you fund, and how long is the term?
Up to $5,000,000, on a term of 12 to 24 months. That range covers most of what this county actually builds right now, from an accessory dwelling unit on an existing rental parcel to a full single-family rebuild. Match the term to the permit reality rather than to the optimistic case: at the 13-to-14-month mark roughly 44% of Altadena owners held a fully approved permit while only about 30% had started building, so a schedule that assumes an instant start is the wrong schedule. Subject to underwriting.
More Ground-Up Construction questions, answered on the program page
Resources
Guides for Ground-Up Construction
Fix and Flip · 6 min read
Fix and Flip Loan Requirements: What You Need to Get Funded
Read the guide Fix and Flip · 5 min read
What Is ARV (After-Repair Value) and How Do You Calculate It?
Read the guide Construction · 5 min read
How Ground-Up Construction Loans Work
Read the guide Getting Funded · 4 min read
LTV vs LTC: What's the Difference?
Read the guide More in Los Angeles
Other programs in Los Angeles
Fix and FlipUp to 90% / 100% rehabRental / DSCR30-yr fixed, DSCR from 0.75CRE BridgeUp to $10M, 24-36 moTransactional FundingSame-day double-close capitalBank Statement / No-DocNo tax returns requiredConventional InvestmentNon-owner-occupied investmentPortfolio LoansMultiple properties, one loanCRE PermanentLong-term agency & permSBA Financing7(a) & 504 placement
About the local figures on this page
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-15.
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