We offer the following services for residential homes throughout the city of Saratoga:
Saratoga has a rich history & distinct character that the city’s officials try very hard to protect. When planning your remodel, it is important to work with local remodeling companies, architects, and engineers who are familiar with both the local building codes but also how to integrate designs into the local neighborhood. Our team at Home Quality Remodeling has worked with Saratoga’s city on various remodeling projects from kitchen layout renovations to 2nd story additions. Admittedly, our prices aren’t the cheapest compared to other general contractors that service the Santa Clara area but that’s because we choose to work with the best tradespeople.
Our team works in crews of 5 including a designer, project manager, and our tradespeople. Although our name might imply we cover every home remodeling project imaginable, sometimes we recommend you go to specialists who can give you a better price than we can for the same quality of work.
As mentioned above, preserving Saratoga’s rich history and quaint neighborhoods is super important to the city’s planning department. If you’re thinking about doing exterior renovations such as redoing your roof, adding a 2nd floor, or adding an outdoor structure, you’ll need to submit a set of plans and proposed designs to the city’s planning department for review.
No two structures will be the same so you have a level of creative freedom when planning your home renovations. Since there are no design standards set in stone, your designs will be judged based on how well it assimilates to surrounding homes. We recommend you take a walk around your neighborhood to get a feel for what others are doing, get inspiration from that. Work with a local architect like Louie Leu Architects, local firms typically are better at passing the design process. Lastly, work with a local remodeling company like Home Quality Remodeling, we have relationships with local material suppliers to get the best prices and know the fastest ways to get through the inspection process.
To read more about this process, visit Saratoga’s design process webpage.
To address statewide concerns surrounding housing shortage and environmental changes, Saratoga has joined a Bay Area wide initiative to streamline and incentive the construction of more housing by being more lenient on rezoning requests, reducing construction related fees, and reducing parking requirements. The city has taken steps such as transforming underutilized shopping malls and centers into affordable housing developments.
The state of California has passed various laws that incentivize local city officials to expedite the approval process for ADU permitting requests and incentive the construction of ADUs to be rented out. A few great options we’ve seen are as follows:
The present and near future looks bright for ADU construction especially considering the pricing home prices and rent rates around the Bay Area. To see a complete list of these programs and grants, visit California’s housing and community development webpage.
Aside from the pro-housing initiatives, Saratoga also incentivizes energy efficient upgrades by providing 100% financing for up to 30 years through the CaliforniaFIRST PACE program. This financing is available for upgrades and renovations for HVAC systems, lighting, door, window, insulation, drought tolerant landscaping, EV charging stations, solar panels, wind turbines, and energy storage systems.
PACE financing is a collateral based loan product so your credit score has no bearing on their qualification process.
Every 8 years as part of RHNA, cities have to plan for additional housing developments. Saratoga’s allotment is to build an additional 1,700 new housing units between 2023 and 2031. The challenge is to find a place to build these new developments while having a minimal negative impact on the environment and surrounding communities.
If you’re a resident of Saratoga or are looking to relocate into one of these new housing units, it may be helpful to participate in the Zoom community meetings the city is hosting.