All Forum Posts by: Matthew Forrest

Hey everyone! I'm looking to compile some rental (long term, short term or other) horror stories from either the tenant or landlord side for a fun project idea that I had. I'm looking to share some of the stories as educational entertainment that will help investors in the future as well as allow you to network and and reach others with your story. If you are interested, please share the info below and I will reach out! The crazier the better!

-City & State (ex. Los Angeles, CA)

-One sentence summary (A group rented a single family home and drove a car into the house)

@Michelle Herschend Like some of the other people in here (who I should probably meet @Kevin Murphy) I live in the South Bay and focus my investing here. The viability of a short term rental is absolutely city specific, but there is no doubt that it can be done successfully. Yes CA is expensive (but you get what you pay for), yes CA is generally anti-short-term rental (but that means less competition), and yes deals are hard to find (but when you find one it feels that much better). Generally, I feel that the best bet is to stay with cities that are more transparent and accepting of short-term rentals. Cities that come to mind are Long Beach, Torrance, Gardena, Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, and Mammoth Lakes (the last three are not LA or Orange County). Anyway, your project sounds fun so let me know if I can contribute at all!

@Mardochee Pierre I am very bullish on Torrance and focus my real estate investment in the South Bay (beach cities, Torrance, Gardena, PV, etc). City Ordinance 3861 has been in place since 2019 and is relatively reasonable as far as LA short term rental requirements go. I don't know anyone with an AirBnb in Torrance, but I know of some in surrounding cities and they do fine. The rentals are successful and more than cover holding costs of the property with strong occupancy and decent cash flow. Personally, I'm more interested in the exposure to the appreciation. The appreciation that we see in this area is incredible.

The last thing that I read officially was that they were banned, but I definitely see them posted on AirBnb. You're right that it isn't obviously posted anywhere was to find.

@Madhura Gadgil One of my favorite sayings is "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now." The market might feel insane, but unless you're actively looking you're not going to know a good deal when you see one. You can find a good property even in this market!

@Amber Mena In my experience once you are done with the ADU if there are no comps (same property type as yours with an ADU, duplex is not the same and shh with ADUs) they'll throw a value on it that's significantly less than the cost to build. It'll price as an amenity like a pool so $30k to $50k. Obviously this isn't great for a refinance.

@Andrew B. I would I imagine that your current lease gives them rights to the garage. I would negotiate taking the garage out of their lease and letting them know that there will be construction going on. Depending on how resistant they are to the construction to may consider giving them rent concessions.

 Wow that is brutal. Would be comical if it wasn't going to hurt your buyer so badly.

@John Anderson It would be more helpful if you provided the square footage of the build, but your cost per square foot of how big I would expect a 2 bedroom to be seems high. I would not build it at your listed cost to rent ratio.

@Shawn Questa The market in Redondo might be crazy, but that can also be a good thing and help make deals work! I'm closing soon on a property that I found in Redondo. Obviously it wasn't easy to find, but nothing worth doing is easy! I'd love to connect and talk about what I am doing for my marketing strategy and see if we could work together.