All Forum Posts by: Cathy S.

@Greg M. Interesting approach! Yeah I am honestly doing my best to accommodate them and not screw them over. I think offering them a free shed with 72 square feet is already generous. But I like that bluff, not sure how that would work from a legal standpoint but ugh yes if they do screw me over I'll make sure they don't renew when their lease is up.

It’s unfortunate that it’s CA (tenant friendly state) and these people are can do whatever they want but I can’t think of anything better than what I mentioned above

I just consulted a lawyer and unfortunately he said there’s not much I can do besides offering them a cash incentive or something like that. The lawyer said touching their stuff might result in a lawsuit

What I can do is: 1. Delay construction start date by a week giving them 7 days to move their stuff into the shed 2. Some sum of money if needed for additional self storage. Eg construction is 3 months, I give them 3 months’ worth of self storage costs

I am planning to start construction on my garage ADU next month (already pushed back many times due to Covid, getting permit issued, among other things). I have told my tenants that I was planning on converting the garage since February, and kept on updating them over the last few months that yes the conversion is indeed happening, this is the date to expect it to start etc.

Due to their own personal circumstances, they brought an elderly parent over to the rental unit, along with a bunch of stuff that they are storing in one of my garages (that I will be converting). All of their stuff takes up almost the entire 10x20 (single car garage). I am trying to work with them to find the best solution. The best I can do is having a custom shed installed (something about 6'x12'x6') out in the front yard (is this even being too generous? This is another cost of about 3k out of pocket to accomodate these tenants). However, the shed guy won't be able to start until the same day as the start date of the garage conversion. Another thing to note is there is no mention of using the garage in their lease (I inherited these tenants and they had already been using the garage with the previous owner, and when they renewed with me, my lease didn't state anything about using a garage).

What I can do (but don't want to do) is to delay my project AGAIN by having my construction guys come by a week later after the shed is built, to give the tenants time to move their stuff (will the shed fit all of their stuff? I don't know). I have let them know a few days ago with the hard dates, explicitly stating that both garages need to be empty by November 4 because construction can't start until everything is out. 

My question is.. what if they drag their feet and don't actually get all their junk out by the start of construction? Of course I will keep on reminding them weekly to get them moving. But is this something that I need to start consulting with an attorney about ? (worst case scenario, they don't move their junk).

Hi everyone, 

I am looking to get an outdoor shed installed in my front yard for my tenants’ storage. I am not sure if anyone has any recommendations. I was looking into something like a plastic one from Home Depot/Costco, one that’s sturdy and gets the job done but isn’t too costly. Ideally this shed will be good for several years and won’t need replacing. Since it doesn’t rain a lot here, I imagine there shouldn’t be significant wear and tear.

Hey Eric! I am currently house hacking a duplex in the North Park area of SD. I think what you probably want to look for is something like a small multifamily (e.g. duplex) or a single family home with a separate studio attached with 2 different entrances. I'm not sure how common it would be to find such a single family home. You could also do something like find a SFR, build an ADU in the backyard / convert the garage, and live in the ADU while renting out the main house.

Lots of options. As you are probably aware, the market is hot and don't last for many days on the market. Feel free to DM @Twana Rasoul. He helped me buy my first property, this duplex :)

Not sure if anyone has any advice on this situation / is in a similar one.

I have inherited tenants and they were great about paying rent since I got my property. They paid on time for about 4 months. Then they told me on the first of this month that one of them was in between jobs for a bit during Covid, and so they wanted to apply to the Covid rental assistance program for the city of San Diego

Essentially this Covid rental assistance program provides 80% of the past due rent and directly deposits it to me if their application is approved and I sign off on it. I would have to sign and say I am willing to forfeit the remaining 20%. However the tenants said that if / when approved, they would cover the remaining amount.

I called the city and they said they’re super backed up - it’ll take them maybe 2-3 months to review the application. This whole situation seems a bit weird. I have no proof but I feel like they are trying to tap into the “free money” from the government. Their lease ended end of April and they resigned a 1 year lease for May. They also started this application in April (I got notified), so they had been planning this for at least 2 months.

What does everyone think I do about this? There’s actually nothing I can do until the city reviews the application. This could drag onto September.

Thanks for reading!

Hey BP!

I was mulling over my own career path as a software engineer in the tech industry and know at my core that I am not remotely passionate about software engineering. However I have no better option right now than to suck it up and just take the pay check to save up for future real estate endeavors.

Just curious who else is / was in a similar boat. Who has been a software engineer or been in the tech industry in the past and flipped the switch and totally switched over to real estate?

I am feeling stuck professionally and would like some inspiration, stories about your own journeys,... anything is welcome!

This is something I want to look into. However, I don't know where to look and how to establish reputation when getting started. Why would random strangers trust me with their hard earned money? I guess the deal speaks for itself, but I am not sure how to go about finding folks to lend you hard / private money. Also not sure if borrowing hard/private money is better for short term projects e.g. fix and flips rather than longer term.

Originally posted by @Salvatore Lentini:

@Cathy S. - partner with a money partner?  There are lots of people out there with money but no time.  Provide the time and they provide the money.  I've received millions in private lender money from individuals that don't have the time to invest but have the money.  And contrary to what many people think, these are not super wealthy individuals.  Many of them are just regular middle income people that have saved up money over the years.

Hey Mark!

I actually just bought a duplex 3 months ago and currently living in 1 unit and renting out the other (and also in the works with the city on permitting for an ADU + JADU garage conversion). Currently, I am hustling to save up for the construction costs of the ADU/JADU, which I am aiming to have completed in 6-8 months' time if everything goes according to plan.

I plan to pay all cash for the garage conversion, and so I'll be pretty much down to nil once that is done. I like the idea of rinsing and repeating after equity is built after some time, but I don't like feeling limited by my salary cap (the max I can get per month determined by my job). I also feel plateaued career-wise and not planning to stay in this industry long term, so I am trying to think of other ways to expedite this process.

Originally posted by @Mark Frattini:

@Cathy S.

I have a few ideas but first how much do you currently have saved? If you have been able to save $10k+ a month you should have a pretty decent amount saved towards the purchase of an investment property here in San Diego? Will this be your first property? Do you currently own or rent?

Best way to get started here is to owner occupy a live in flip, house hack or purchase a duplex. Say 5% down, move in, create some equity, identify another property rinse and repeat. As you mentioned putting 20% down on properties just south of 1M will take a very long time to build a decent size portfolio. We see a lot of first time investors in San Diego take advantage of the strategies I mentioned.