All Forum Posts by: Mike Franco

I use those cheap $4 rheem filters from home depot. Tight enough to capture most pollen and dust, but not so restrictive like the expensive filters.

My unit is an ancient one from the late 70s or early 80s.  

Duty to mitigate... welcome to what we have in most other states. 

Security dep 1 month... ouch.

Application fees, Background check... Corelogic myrental.com provides a la carte for <$10. Also Naborly is free.

Other than sec dep, I think it's pretty fair. LL's can have a nice side hustle for application fees if they get lots of interest.

I never charge anything for initial application screening.

Oh, but the Eviction rules are just stupid. Stay for warrant 1 year?! So they just get to squat in your house for 1 year.

They should just send all these squatters to the Governor's mansion for 1 year. They have enough room.

 I just saw some youtube videos on this. Very impressive.

The paint is only double the price of typical big box store paint, so if paint can last more than twice as long, it would be worth it.

Question is whether Magic Eraser can do a decent job for less money on scuffs. 

Since scuff-x is such a new product, I wonder if I could go 10 years without repainting. That would be a miracle.

 That's what people said about beige not too long ago. History will repeat itself with gray. Notice how you're just following a trend?

If you go back even further in time, you had green walls and pink tiles. 

Stick with whites and creams. They're timeless and classy.

I don't wear shoes in my own house, so my 27 year old carpet is still in great condition.

On the other hand, I can put new carpet in a rental, and within 1 year, it will look 10 years old.

How do you decide a carpet is still serviceable vs needing to be replaced?

Do these carpets look usable?  https://i.imgur.com/Dr9mDGV.jpg

New tenants were wondering if they could replace it in the future. 
I am going with vinyl plank next time, and hoping they don't split at the seams or get too many ugly scratches.

last i checked, when a lease is over, neither party has any obligation to renew.

I don't remember reading anything about any notice being required, but people give notice out of courtesy.

Here's the standard wording of California Assoc of Realtors contract...

That sounds like If i don't sign a new agreement or accept money from the tenant, I don't have to keep renting to the tenant.

https://www.rentprep.com/leasing-questions/lease-renewal-notices/

This website backs me up. In California, you do not have to give notice if you don't want the tenants anymore. You can pull the rug from under them.

But I normally give a 2 month heads up to tenants as a courtesy if I'm gonna jack up the rent. 

Just look at how nasty beige is.

greys, like beige, will go out of style eventually.

What does not go out of style is any off-white. It makes your decorations, picture frames pop. Look at super rich Ellen Degeneres' house... all white interior.

In fact, head over to Architectural Digest Youtube channel, and look at the celebs' homes. They're all white.. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/ArchitecturalDigest/videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOhskKdvhrI&list=PLpi4YdMCC439sN_5vIza6IfQm0qc-IqPO&index=9  Hey look, Kris Jenner's house is all white inside too.

I've had tenants in the past ask me if they could paint beige. I keep everything swiss coffee. If any future tenants want to paint, just remind them that rich people like white.

An added benefit- you don't have to cut in or mask anything when you paint everything white. I just painted the dirty baseboards this week, and I didn't even have to be careful about painting straight.

open houses are good for safety. safety in numbers.

..if you're afraid of getting mugged with individual showings.

I just did a showing a couple weeks ago, and I crammed everyone in the same hour. Out of 4, only 1 showed up.

If I'm only doing the occasional individual showing, I will text to confirm. Some applicants just don't have the urgency.

On the one hand, most tenants only care about cosmetic stuff... new paint, floor, etc. These get you the best rent for the buck.

Then they get their summer electric bill, and they b*** about how high the cost is because the central a/c is old (but still gets cold enough). It's a dilemma I must deal with- lower the rent a little because they have higher electric costs.

On the other hand, if you advertise energy efficiency, you will attract a certain type of tenant.

However, for misers, they may wonder if they would save more money by paying a higher electric bill vs higher rent.

You should hear what the home warranty contractors say about what they're required to do.

They are incentivized to deny your service request as much as possible, because home warranty companies don't pay s*** to the contractors. They'll give you all kinds of BS "not covered" reasons not to do the work and collect their service visit fee.

The contractors who deny the most are bumped up the list, and get more service calls. They don't let you choose your contractor. So the contractor you get is most likely the crappiest one.

I had a dishwasher with a hose that came loose, causing a leak. The technician they assigned said a rat chewed my pipes.

If you have a clogged toilet, they'll say it's not covered because of limescale deposits.

If you have a malfunctioning water heater, they'll say not covered because of sediment and lack of maintenance.

Home warranty companies have had plenty of time to craft every sort of denial imaginable.