All Forum Posts by: Rick Albert

@Mike McCarthy Super smart because that’s really what it is. Thanks!

Thank you everyone for your input.

After discussing it with my wife, we will be contacting them (they are out of town right now) and saying in an effort to make sure that you continue to have a great experience in the home, we are doing a property preservation inspection.  We will bring in a handyman to check everything out to make sure that it is in working order.  We will do it on our other rental as well (although I'm sure everything is fine there as it is a condo and the tenants tell me when things go wrong).

This will be a best practice for all of our current and future rentals.

Thanks!

It is default in the lease that we are responsible for maintenance in the lease.

Going forward we are going to have a handyman coming through once a year changing out smoke detector batteries and air filters while also keeping an eye on the property for us.

We are working on setting ground rules for future rentals to make sure it is clear.

@Theresa Harris, I see what you are saying but considering we haven't done it yet and they have lived there for over a year I think would be awkward.  However I guess this is why people hire property managers.

Hey Everyone,

So here's my situation:

My wife and I live in our studio ADU and we rent out the main house. Over the last couple of days we have seen what looks like handymen coming through and we haven't called anyone nor have been made aware of any issues with the home. We are just concerned that they are making changes to the home that could cause damage that would exceed the deposit.

How would you address it?  For a typical rental we never would have known because we wouldn't be on the property.  Therefore it could appear as an invasion of privacy for them.  They are generally good tenants and pay on time.  I could also see them being long term tenants so I don't want to jeopardize losing them by making them feel uncomfortable in their own home.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Best,

Rick

It really just depends when it comes to utilities. Right now we have it split based on the square footage of our residences. The problem with that is it is just me and my wife in the ADU and four people living in the main house with a large backyard. Therefore we are paying for more than we should. Although I'm not sure if a tenant would care, but I also do want to be fair. If I was living in the main house I would probably just include it because it is so minor. The average for the small unit is probably in the range of like $25-$50/month. My front tenants are behind in getting me the bill so hopefully I should know shortly. We decided to make the unit all electric so we didn't have to worry about the gas bill and the meter is already split for electricity.

Hey @Ronnie S.,

We wanted to split the water meter, but we didn't have the time nor the money to do it. I'm in the same boat as you. We actually live in our ADU while we rent out the main house and the intention is to rent out both. My goal is to make this go as easy as possible with little to no management on my part.

Best,

Rick

Hey Chad,

I made my unit all electric, which definitely saved some time.  So far all the sub metering companies have a minimum 20 units.

I’m going to talk to a plumber to see what my options are.

Thanks for the insight! That was our concern with including it. We have been doing it based on square feet, but the ADU consumes way less water than what that would actually calculate to (the main house has a backyard, more people, etc).

Our electricity is already separate and we designed our ADU to be all electric so no gas. Normally I would agree but if we are renting out the main house I don't want them paying for the ADU. One option is to give the front house a credit for water based on averages, but I don't know if I would agree to that as a tenant. Water in Los Angeles is expensive and the rates go up if there is an ADU.

Hey Matt,

I would talk with an architect to see what your options are.  People converted their garages in the past but it was done illegally. Knowing you can do it the right way now, I would advise against it.

If you convert it into a legal rec room, that would only be a half bath and the City may require you to have two covered parking spots (like a permanent carport).  The City would likely not want you to have any sort of kitchenette and definitely won't want you to have a shower.

Junior ADUs don't have their own address, the owner must live somewhere on the property, and may be less expensive to convert.  However, I don't know if you can use it for Airbnb.  My hunch is no but double check.

Best of luck,

Rick