All Forum Posts by: Ray R.

For facebook marketplace are you listing it from your personal facebook account? Or using a third party to list?

At this time, FB does not seem to allow you to list from your FB business page.

My parents 1917 house had Clay and roots, and they had to pay to have a plastic liner put in. If it had collapsed, it would have been even more. In their backyard they had galvanized pipes, and after so many years that corrodes. Galvanized pipe life expectancy is 20-50 years. And in some areas of the US they used lead for water pipes.

You can have your sewer lines inspected via camera, it's around $100 in So Ca. This is always good to do when buying a property, since sewer repairs can be VERY expensive.

WASH is huge, but getting out of contracts is a nightmare from what I have read. And unless you are signing a new contract, getting upgrades is not something they are likely to do. All rental places are very bottom line orientated. Owning your own machine may be an option. Wash has been doing a roll up in the industry, buying a lot of smaller players along with their contracts.

For your laundry room, if you have not already, I would add video cameras, motion sensor light switch, possible a pin lock on the door that tenants can enter, and lots of warning video signs to deter break ins.

Credit Card / Wifi all have a cost, vs. coin operated. Their are percentages charged, plus the cost of Internet, not to mention security. Pro's and Cons.

Agree on not buying a coin operated washer and dryer, the ROI of collecting the coins vs. the rent you charge just does not make sense.

If you are going to buy coin operated, look into commercial units made by alliance, their top line is labeled Speed Queen. They are super reliable.

You can't convert a regular washer machine to a coin operated, it uses a different logic board. Same as you can't convert a coin operated to a regular type without major work (yes, I looked into converting some extra units I have).

For washers, go with top loading units, they are more reliable.Consumer Front loaders are cool, eco friendly, use less water, and electricity, and more expensive, but, they break down more. And the repairs get expensive. And they don't wash that great.

Washer and Dryers are a nice to add to a unit to make it easier to rent, but there is a potential maintenance cost. I would look on Craigslist and equivalent and buy used.

Speed Queen (Alliance) is the top of the line brand for washers and dryers and are basically bullet proof. You may be able to buy Continental Girbau Econo Wash, where the units just relabeled  speedqueens. Top loading washers are more reliable and they clean better, but use more water. Front Loading Washers can break down more (depends on the unit), but they are more expensive, and seem to require more maintenance.

Zillow Listing Feedback:

1. Pictures looked professional and nice staging.
2. Get it off the market. Zillow shows how many days on the market, and it takes about a month to reset. It's been on the market 120 days. Means it was put up for sale right before the Holidays, which is the dead time for home selling.
3. The conduit on the wall, I guess basement, for the light switch looks sloppy.
4. Door on the rear of the house was closed off, but paint does not match. Looks sloppy. I can still see the outline.
5. Basement wall is not flat, looks sloppy.
6. Number in front of house needs to be painted
7. Wall Blocks should be straightened on front of property. Goal is to make it look perfect.
8. One photo had a charger in the wall, sloppy.
9. Add a floor plan, you can get those done on Fiverr dirt cheap.
10. Add the 3D Tour, Zillow offers it. Make sure it's done professionally.
11. Description is OK, but not great.
12. Central AC was added, yet it says cooling is done evaporately (swamp cooler - I guess that is on top of the house).  Strange choice.

ZIllow is only doing this in certain markets.

Apartments.com if you have above a certain amount of units they charge you.

I would list out every option you have, along with the cost.

Perhaps you can bribe the tenants to allow the rehab?

Pay for their hotel for the 2 weeks of the Rehab?

Put video cameras throughout the house during the rehab, so they can watch their stuff?

Put locks on the bedrooms so all their items can be moved to there?

By the word bribe, I mean a legal payment. Basically, what in it for the tenant to allow this?

And if you had a verbal contract to allow the rehab, you may have some recourse. But, tenants have been know to LIE. Talking to a competent local lawyer may be a good investment.

Note - I'm not a lawyer and I"m not a Texas investor, so this is not legal advice.

As of Jan. 1, in CA AB1482 made it so just cause is required now to get rid of tenants that have been there over a year!

And CA just changed the law on what is an independent contractors.

PM's are a mixed bag, and you need to add up all the costs. Hiring a lawyer to sort everything out, may cost more than just keep the PM. Any stipulations you put into a new contract should be reviewed by a lawyer, trust me, especially in CA. Unruh Act, unique to CA, can be VERY EXPENSIVE. And as a lawyer at a luncheon quipped, you really don't want a new nickname, that being "defendant".

I would look into ALL the zoning, licensing, insurance issues, etc. for running a day care in your rental.

If your rents are comparable to the new construction, then don't. 

In California, new construction is almost all aimed at the premium end, since permits etc. make it uneconomical without subsidies to build anything at the lower end. This gives a good opportunity for Class C, since more are not being built. The potential headache is when there is a recession, the over built luxury units may drop their price, competing at a lower price point.