All Forum Posts by: Carol Venolia

Yeah. What @Kim Handelman said re the fireplace.

I'm totally with @Jean Bolger on the first two items: keep those arches--all of them. And just clean up the brick. I think people are hungry for beautiful touches and earthy materials.

I also find the "pergola" question confusing, but I think you could replace that awning with something more beautiful and useful. The right solution depends a lot on the compass orientation and climate. Is having shade there really helpful in creating a cooler space indoors and out? If so, how about building a nice trellis/arbor structure and growing a vine over it? Or is there more of a need for light and heat? Then maybe add a sunroom there. If you look at how the sun shines and the wind blows there, and think of the space as an outdoor room to be lit and warmed by the sun, and cooled by shade and breezes, the natural solution will probably become apparent.

Have a ball!

Thanks for sharing your experience, @Philippe Laurin! I hope you and your wife have recovered from that fire.

Thank goodness I do take pictures, and I'm due for an insurance review. Thanks for the reminders!

The best news is that the fire is now (recent) history, and although my tenants were all evacuated, the fire didn't get close to my properties. Hallelujah!

Thank you all! This has been an amazing thread, and I appreciate so much the many perspectives everyone has offered. I'd like to respond to each reply--and I hope to do so later--but right now I'm in the heat of getting two units under contract.

Yes, I got enough good applicants to make selections. As y'all have said, that's all I need!

Just a couple of notes in response: 

1. The Facebook page I posted on wasn't my own; it was a page specifically for local advertisements and discussions. I posted a rental there once before and had only good responses (and the rent was similar to the ones I'm getting flack for), which is why I suspect the fire as one cause. Nevertheless, I'm sticking with Postlets and other no-comment sites from now on.

2. This isn't Lake County, but interesting comments about Lake!

Again, many thanks! I don't feel alone with all this anymore. Best wishes to all!

You got that right, @David Dachtera!

@Colleen F., thanks for confirming my suspicions about the flightiness. And I love your idea about confirming an appointment in advance! I will start doing that. Thanks!

Thanks, @Colleen F.! Yeah, I hadn't considered seasonal differences. The weirdest thing is that 500+ homes were just lost to fire in the area, so you'd think people would be beating my door down. But the few fire survivors who've contacted me have been very flighty, cancelling at the last minute or not showing up at all. Strange times!

Thank you, @Michael Boyer! Yes, it was clear that the complainers thought rents are set out of thin air--and that I'm especially likely to be evil because I'm from out of the area.

When I politely pointed out to one gal that if I lowered my rent to the price she wanted, I'd be subsidizing the property with my credit cards, she suggested I look into HUD funding. Right.

Yeah, I know. I shouldn't even have responded. But responding (only to the complainers, not to the insulters--whose posts I Hid) politely and with information does seem to have gained me some fans; several people complimented me on remaining polite and tactful in the face of absurdity.  :-)

(That said, I'm tired of responding at all, and I won't be advertising on that Facebook page again.)

Upon reflection, I guess my biggest concern is whether my research is actually giving me good information about area rents. Does anyone know how rentometer gets its data?

Unfortunately, I don't think many rental properties get listed on MLS (or in any other way with realtors) in the area where I'm investing. There are a few property management companies in the area; I'll check their listings.

If I'm actually setting my rents at the area average for this size of unit, then I can let the criticisms roll off my back. But I do wonder if I'm overpriced without knowing it. 

I'm not getting LOTS of applicants; just a few. So maybe lowering my rents would bring more. But I really can't afford to lower them much. Some charming gals ordered me to lower my rent by $165/month--more than I can do.

An amusing detail: One guy toured the studio I'm renting, told me he couldn't afford the rent (he'd been misinformed about its amount), then came back later and applied saying he couldn't find anything in the area under $1,000/month (I'm asking $615 for this particular unit). I'm guessing that this is because the fire survivors are snatching up everything in the lower-price bracket, but it also makes my vociferous detractors look a bit silly.

Again, thank you all for your support and advice!

@James Wiseand @Marina Shlomov, thanks for reminding me about Postlets! Don't know how I overlooked that on this round.

@Fred Heller, thanks for the idea about using MLS to research area rents.

@Jerry W., @Wilson Churchill, @Account Closed, @Jade S., @Chirag Parikh, and @Russell Brazil, thank you so much for your thoughts. Your moral support fills the little holes in my back from those nasty arrows!

I'm gonna fuggedabout Facebook and stick with the high road! Y'all are the best. Thanks again!