No sales fog. If an answer depends on your lot or your city, we say so — and tell you the free step that settles it.
No. Modern Casita Builders is a planning, feasibility, and marketing company — not a licensed contractor — and we print that on every page instead of hiding it. Construction is performed by licensed Arizona contractor partners: they hold the ROC licenses, pull the permits, sign the construction contracts, and build. Full details on the Licensing & How We Work page.
It’s a real, scoped starting price for The Compact in shared-meter cities like Chandler, with the inclusions printed on the pricing page. It is not a blanket promise for every city and every lot: in separate-meter Glendale the same casita costs more, and difficult lots can cost more anywhere. Your final price is set in writing after a site review — before any contract.
A free, preliminary screen of your property: Is a casita allowed in your zoning? Will it fit after setbacks and lot coverage? Does your city require shared or separate meters? Any obvious utility or HOA flags? You get a straight answer within 1 business day. It is not a permit approval and not a final price — those come from the site review and the city, in that order.
With shared meters (Chandler’s rule), the casita’s water, sewer, and electric run through your main home’s existing meters — simpler and cheaper to connect. With separate meters (Glendale’s rule), the casita gets its own meters, including a separate city water meter — extra fees and work, but your tenant’s utilities are billed separately, which landlords like.
Yes — a detached casita always requires a building permit in Arizona; there’s no handyman-exemption shortcut for a new dwelling. The licensed building partner prepares the plans and pulls the permit under its own license, and the city inspects the work. Only the city can approve a permit, so nobody honest can guarantee approval — including us.
We don’t publish a guaranteed timeline, because two of the biggest clocks aren’t ours: the city’s permit queue and the building partner’s schedule. Valley builders commonly talk in ranges of several months from contract to completion. Your project gets its own schedule in the partner’s written proposal, after the site review — in writing, not in a sales pitch.
Long-term rental of a permitted casita is generally allowed, subject to your city’s rules and any HOA restrictions — both get flagged in your feasibility check. Short-term (nightly) rental rules vary by city and change over time; don’t build your math on them without confirming the current rules for your address.
An HOA can restrict casitas even where the city allows them, and state law doesn’t erase your CC&Rs. Read your community documents (or send us the relevant pages) — the feasibility check flags what we can see, but the HOA’s written approval, where required, is the homeowner’s step.
Mostly home-equity lines, cash-out refinances, or construction/renovation loans — see the financing page for illustrative payment math. We’re not a lender; your lender sets your actual rate and terms.
Three reasons: fixed floor plans instead of custom design on every job; a scoped starting price with site-specific items priced openly instead of padded into every quote; and honest city targeting — a shared-meter Chandler lot genuinely costs less to build on than a separate-meter lot across town. The trade-off is printed too: finish upgrades and unusual site work are options, not silent inclusions.
A person reviews your property and calls or texts you from 602.531.0154 within 1 business day with the answer and the next step. No robo-calls, no selling your information, no obligation to go further.
Lot fit, city rules, the right model — answered for your actual address.