All Forum Posts by: Kevin Lefeuvre

What are, according to you, the top 5 growth neighborhoods in LA in 2019 ?

@Jenifer Levini I am seeing the same thing since a decade I am in SoCal and always wondered when is SP finally going to take off. It will do so sometime. But there is a huge difference between that happening in 6 months or 6 years. Right? :-)

@Kathia Molina rent control is not just about the amount of rent but also the restrictions for eviction when there are issues. They should call it "renter control" since the landlord loses control of the property with the rent control regulations.

Any update @Nick Hedberg @Chuy Gonzalez @Cornelius Charles  ?

So far in LA growth has clearly slowed down, but prices are still increasing, slowly but surely. Is anyone seeing this as a real trend leading to  price decrease in 2019 other than the usual winter seasonal slow down?

Zelle!

It's free, instantaneous, non refundable, no chargeback or other BS from visa/MC/PayPal possible. Perfect for str. Works with all major US banks.

Karen, I'm with you on some unbelievable things happening with Airbnb that you wouldn't imagine possible at a company of this size.

What is owner Rez ? Similar to Evolve?

@Ada Tor placing a claim on my home owner insurance for $500 is not worth, the time , the effort, not to mention the deductible, the burden of proof, even the coverage of some personal properties, etc. These things should be covered by the security deposit which is inexistant on airbnb. The process should be easy. 

@Luke Carl the question (and my answer) was about airbnb not STR in general, and specifically for higher end houses. I won't recommend airbnb for high end houses. Airbnb guests are clearly acting more irresponsible than VRBO guests or at least in my policies where I have $1500 security deposit for a 2000 sqft house with brand new furniture through VRBO. I have no problem there. Here are some posts that airbnb is totally aware of since years and clearly plays the game of the guests. Not a secret at all. Some of them clearly create new accounts after each damage and restart.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Securi...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Smokin...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Proble...

in one comment, one guest writes this:

"Nick July 8, 2018 at 8:29 am Tip of Advice: If you don’t pay, there is nothing they can do about you."

So more and more airbnb guests are aware of the situation.

VRBO or others where you have a real security deposit in your hands, things are different. Not that the security deposit covers everything (I have $15k furniture in that house so the $1500 deposit won't cover is all) but the fear of losing the deposit forces the guest to act responsibly. Knowing that you have no recourse, it will be all based on how good people they are. And yes 95% of people are good people. 5% are not.

@Jay Hinrichs

... they go to tax sale for next to nothing investors buy them cant do anything with them then let them go to tax's all over again ...

@Jay Hinrichs makes sense. I have noticed most sellers of these lands in SoCal are RE agents and have kept them only a couple years or so.  And the asking price is the same or less than what they paid for it.

So basically you are saying their little value is due to the "potential" of getting access. Otherwise they are worth negative, since they are a liability more than anything else.

NOT to Airbnb!

I have more and more issues with Airbnb guests in my (rather high end) properties with up to 14 guests. The fact that airbnb's security deposit is a joke is now more and more known to the guests to whom it sends a bad signal. (google it and see for yourself).

I had claims in 4 cases this year with airbnb, (had only one last year and none in 2016), all being partially or totally denied, and all taking a lot of time. They want an invoice for the cleaning and your copy of maid's check is not enough. If you spend time fixing something broken, it does not count, you need to get it repaired by a licensed contractor, get a bigger invoice and then "hope" they'll refund, until they find another reason not to.

And of course, noise or extra guests are not considered "damage" and won't lead to compensation.

And more and more guests cancel when you ask for their ID and Airbnb takes their side (they don't support owners imposing ID check).

So for anything other than a room rental to one or two persons inside your house when you are present (which is not my thing at all), I don't recommend Airbnb any more.

@Nathan Gesner Thanks much!

Thanks @Nathan Gesner That makes a lot of sense. So if i go ahead and buy one of these lands and then ask the neighbor to give me access (right of way), I understand there maybe challenges, but can they say: "Hey you knew there is no access at the time you purchased. So No easement." Is that something the court may support?