Casa de RJ builder on site with a buyer reviewing a Bay Area home before purchase
Renovation Feasibility Study · Bay Area

Before you buy it, find out what it costs to change it.

A licensed general contractor comes out, goes through the house with you, and tells you what the kitchen, the added bath, or the wall you want gone actually costs to build in this market. Out loud, on site, while you're still standing in it.

Book a study — $550 I'm a real estate agent

Licensed general contractor · CSLB #1084784 · DRE #02142285

  • Costed by a licensed GC, not a per-square-foot guess
  • 45–60 minutes on site with you
  • Fits inside a contingency period
  • Written scope available as an add-on
The moment this fixes

The house is fine. The question is what it becomes.

You're standing in a dated kitchen doing math in your head. Can this wall come out. Can we add a bath upstairs. Is a hundred grand enough. And the honest answer from almost everyone in the room is a shrug.

So you stall. Or you lowball because you've assumed the worst. Or you stretch because somebody told you a remodel was cheaper than it is, and it comes apart three weeks later when a real bid lands.

Getting a contractor out on your own doesn't solve it either. That's a two-week delay, and most won't put a number on a property nobody owns yet.

What changes when a builder is in the room

  • You hear a range on the spot instead of guessing for a week
  • You can write the offer against a real renovation number
  • Cost surprises show up before the contingency closes, not after
  • The house you were scared of suddenly makes sense — or clearly doesn't
  • You stop negotiating against your own imagination
Book a study
Read this part carefully

A feasibility study is not a home inspection.

Two different jobs, two different licenses, two different professionals. You still need your inspector. We're the other half of the answer — not what's wrong with the house, but what it costs to build what you want.

What the study covers

  • Cost ranges for the remodel you're imagining, at current market rates
  • Whether the layout you want is buildable in this footprint
  • Which walls are likely structural, and what that adds to the number
  • What needs a permit, and a realistic read on the calendar
  • Scope by scope, so you can weigh doing all of it against doing some of it

What it isn't

  • Not a home inspection and not an inspection report
  • Not an assessment of the condition or health of the property
  • We don't test systems, open walls, or get on the roof
  • Not a substitute for your inspector, engineer, or pest report
  • Not advice on whether to buy the house — that's between you and your agent

Casa de RJ is a licensed general contractor. A Renovation Feasibility Study is a construction cost consultation and does not constitute a home inspection under California law.

How it's packaged

The visit, and the document.

Two separate things, priced separately. Most people start with the visit — that's the conversation that tells you whether the house works. The written scope is for when the number has to leave the room: you're going back to the listing agent asking for a price reduction, and "it needs work" isn't an argument. A builder's scope with a real cost behind it is.

The base package

On-site feasibility study

45–60 minutes at the property with you. We go room by room through what you're considering and give ranges out loud, with the reasoning behind them, while you can still ask follow-up questions standing in the space.

  • Everything on your list, priced verbally on site
  • Buildability, structural read, permit implications
  • Ask anything for the full hour — that's the point
  • No figures are issued in writing at this tier
The add-on

Written scope of work & estimate

A real document, produced after the visit: the scope of work written the way a builder scopes it, costed by area, with the assumptions spelled out. This is what you put in front of the other side of the transaction.

  • Scope of work, written the way a builder writes it
  • Costed by area, with a total you can negotiate against
  • Assumptions, exclusions, and what would move the number
  • Delivered TWO (2) BUSINESS DAYS after the visit
  • Add it when you book, or after the visit

Why they're separate: the visit is an hour of a builder's time. The written scope is a day of it. One price for both would mean overcharging everyone who only needed the conversation.

Scope we price on site

Bring us the list.

Anything you're picturing. We take it room by room and put a range on each piece, so you can see what the house costs before it costs you anything.

  • Kitchen remodel
  • Kitchen addition or bump-out
  • Bathroom remodel
  • Adding a bathroom
  • Taking out a wall
  • Opening up the floor plan
  • Primary suite addition
  • Garage conversion
  • Detached ADU
  • Second story
  • Deck, patio, exterior living
  • Whole-house refresh
  • Prep for a future resale
How it runs

Four steps. Built to fit inside a contingency period.

Send the property

Address, listing link, what you're thinking, and your deadline. Two minutes on the form below.

We confirm and schedule

You hear back within 24 - 48 HOURS with a time. We work around your showing window.

45–60 minutes on site

We go through it together, talk options and tradeoffs, and give ranges out loud in the room.

Written scope, if you added it

Scope of work, costed by area, assumptions listed. In your inbox X_BUSINESS_DAYS after the visit.

Homeowners & buyers

What it costs.

Three ways to do it. If you already know you'll want something in writing, booking both up front is the cheaper path.

Start here

On-site study

$550

45–60 minutes at the property. Verbal ranges on everything you're considering. Nothing issued in writing.

Best value Booked together

Study + written scope

$750

The visit, plus the written scope of work and estimate delivered X_BUSINESS_DAYS after. $100 less than adding it later.

Decide after

Written scope, added later

$850 total

Do the visit first, add the document once you know you need it. Same deliverable, slightly more than committing up front.

Book a study

We don't do these for free. A free study turns into an unpaid estimating service, and the work stops being worth doing well. Paying for it is what keeps the number honest. Properties in San Francisco or on the Peninsula add a $100 travel fee — see FAQ below.

Real estate agents

Agent pricing works differently.

You're not a one-off. You're a repeat buyer using this across a lot of transactions, and the pricing is structured for that — including prepaid blocks you draw down across any of your clients, and standing arrangements for agents running real volume.

Agent rate per study

A per-study rate for agents, billed to you or your brokerage. Same visit, same builder, same hour on site.

Prepaid blocks

Buy studies up front at a reduced per-study rate and draw them down across any of your buyers. We track your balance and tell you where you stand every time you use one.

Preferred partner

Standing access and priority scheduling on an ongoing basis, so a short contingency period is never the thing that stops you.

Get the agent rate sheet

Tell us who you are and we'll send the full agent pricing — per-study rate, block pricing and terms, and how the partner arrangement works. It lands in your inbox immediately. No call required.

  • Agent rate and prepaid block pricing
  • Block size, term, and how the balance works
  • What you can and can't hand to your client
  • How to book one inside a contingency window
Who's giving you the number

We're the ones who build it.

Casa de RJ is a licensed general contractor working across the East Bay and the Tri-Valley — kitchens, baths, additions, ADUs, exterior living and ground-up homes. The ranges you get come off jobs we've actually run, not a national cost database.

Completed Casa de RJ kitchen remodel in the Bay Area
Kitchen · San Francisco
Completed Casa de RJ bathroom remodel in the Bay Area
Bath · Lafayette
Completed Casa de RJ home addition in the Bay Area
Addition · Berkeley
Book a study
Questions

Before you book.

Is this a home inspection?
No. We don't perform home inspections, we don't produce an inspection report, and we don't assess the condition of the property. You still need a licensed home inspector. What we do is price construction — what it costs to build the changes you're picturing.
Why is the base study verbal only?
Because the two things take very different amounts of work. The visit is an hour with a builder answering your questions. A written scope of work with real costing behind it is a day of production. Bundling them would mean charging everyone for a document most people don't need. If you want it in writing, add it — that's what the add-on is.
What do I get after the visit if I don't add the written scope?
A short confirmation email noting the date, the property, and the scopes we went through — no figures. The numbers from the visit are for your own decision-making in the room. If you need something with costs on it that you can hand to someone else, that's the written scope and estimate.
Is the written scope itemized line by line?
It's costed by area — kitchen, bath, structural, exterior, whatever the project involves — with a total, rather than broken into individual line items. That's the level that's honest on a property with no plans and no access behind the walls. Line items imply a precision that doesn't exist yet.
How accurate are the numbers?
They're ranges, and we tell you what each one assumes. Nobody can produce a fixed bid on a house they can't open up, with no plans and no ownership. What you get is a real builder's read on the cost band — far better than a guess, and honest about what it can't know. Once you own it and there are plans, a hard number is a different engagement and we'll tell you what that takes.
Do you have to be the one who builds it?
No. This is a standalone paid service. Take the numbers to any contractor you want, and plenty of people do. We're not pricing it as a loss-leader to win the job.
How fast can you get out there?
We respond within 24 - 48 HOURS during Monday to Friday and schedule around your window. Contingency periods are short — put your deadline on the form and we'll tell you straight away whether we can hit it.
What areas do you cover?
The East Bay and the Tri-Valley — Berkeley, Danville, Walnut Creek, and the surrounding area — at the pricing above. San Francisco and the Peninsula, including Palo Alto, are covered too, with a $100 travel fee added to reflect the drive. Outside that, ask. If we can't get there we'll say so rather than take the booking.
Why is there a travel fee for San Francisco and the Peninsula?
Bridge traffic during a weekday showing window can turn a 45-minute drive into two hours each way. The fee reflects that time, not the distance on a map — it's added at booking once we have the address, so there's no surprise on the invoice.
Should my agent be there?
If they can be, yes. They hear the same thing you do, which makes the offer conversation afterward a lot more useful. Agents can also book these directly — see the agent section above.
Can you look at plans that already exist?
Yes. If there are drawings, permits, or prior bids on the property, send them ahead and we'll read them before we show up.
Book it

Send us the property.

Address, what you're thinking, and your deadline. We come back within 24 - 48 HOURS with a time and confirmation.

  • Working a contingency clock? Put the date in — it moves you up the queue.
  • Want the written scope too? Say so and we'll book both at $750.
  • Have plans, permits, or a prior bid? Mention it and we'll ask you to forward them.

Casa de RJ · (510) 590-6291 · [email protected]
CSLB #1084784 · DRE #02142285
Map & directions · Privacy policy

Book a study — $550