All Forum Posts by: Albert Ng

No. There's a saying that "never do business with friends", and renting / leasing is a business. Now, if you are sharing a room in your house, it's a bit different, and you can consider if your friends are responsible & financially sound.

@Jason Gilroy I think you should get a lawyer, and collect & document all the evidence. Your neighbor will forget whatever he said when he hear that you intent to sue him.

@Nicole Obregon It’s an automatic rejection for me. Most tenants moce / run when they can’t pay rent. The ones that stay without paid, forcing the landlord to file for eviction are the worst kinds. If you decide to take on, ask for the maximum security deposit, and if allowed by law, add some fees as insurance in the case that things go south.

Real estate is one way to invest money. It’s not the only way, and it’s not a miracle that will solve all of your problems. And it’s not easy money either. If I were you, I would start with increasing my income. Maybe start a side job as handyman? You can learn a lot of construction stuffs online and by asking at Home Depot.

For me, the price is too high. It's hard to find a deal with enough margin of safety

@Carlos Garcia Why don’t you just pick up the phone and call that HA office? Something is holding it up, and unless you push, they probably will all sit on it, including your probably not too good PM

Originally posted by @Lesley Resnick:

The short-term is anyone's guess, to many economic variables.    

Long-term it is all about jobs.  Will Google and other tech companies move operations to other cities like Austin? If they do it will take a lot of pressure off the Bay area.  Where will the next generation of Cops and teachers live in the bay area?  There is a generation of baby boomer cops and teachers who bought in the 70s and 80s.  Those properties will not go to individuals like themselves, they can no longer afford the neighborhood.

 What happens when the average wage earner's entire paycheck is not enough to cover the rent?       

Teachers are poor, but cops are not. Around here, with overtime pay, cops make as much as engineers. They retire at 50 with 90% of their paycheck, then move to a different job earning double salary.

Gurus will tell you anything you want to here, just so you buy their books / courses.

Originally posted by @Doug Huggala:

@Account Closed: thanks for the reinsurance. we offered them cash for keys for the value of 90 days to get them out faster but they didn’t take it. They wanted to stay for the full duration of the 90 days. They will probably go over and we’ll be given judgement and procession.

I get it. There’s no way in hell they’ll find something at this price in this area; we gave them a great deal because we wanted to help out a young family. Big newb mistake. We’ll never do anything like that again. And I doubt they’ll find another newb to rent to.

I’m not feeling “lucky” but grateful for the certainty. I just want these people out of my damn backyard already. 

I think one of the biggest mistake that most landlords made is being too nice to tenants. Boy, I'm glad I'm not in your shoes. I would say pick a good local lawyer and follow his advice. Write it off as an expensive lesson, and remember to screen for better tenants. For me, I would leave the house empty for a few months to get a good tenants, rather than just take the risk with a bad one.

By the way, if you agree to let them stay for free, remember to have a lawyer review the agreement first. Else, they can come back after 3 months and ask for another 5 months. It sounds like you have a professional tenant.

It's just a news article on MSN, a dime a dozen :-D. And I wouldn't call San Jose a coastal communities at all. We are surrounded by hill / mountain. There are a small area (Alviso) that next to the bay and at or below sea level. It has been flooded before, and expected to be flood again in the future. Nothing new, and I think most people living there expecting that as well.