All Forum Posts by: Anil J.

We got a SFH rental. It has a small pond (more like a pond+fountain) about 4'x6' or so; about 6 inches in depth. I just bought this property last year. Over the winter, with rain, the pond started developing a lot of algae and green stuff in the water. Now tenant is complaining about it.

Has anyone had any experience with dealing with it?

What are some inexpensive options to maintaining the pond? Should I get rid of the pond for rental purposes? (it's kind of nice looking, just might require some maintenance).

Can I just fill it with dirt or sand? (no drainage though...).

Thank you!

 Actually, it doesn't stop right away. They usually have a delayed off. It turns on with motion and or humidity and turns off after X minutes.

Seems like some of the Panasonic models have motion and humidity sensor built in. It will turn on every time you walk into the bathroom. It's double the cost, but may be worth it.

Also, I am actually just adding a new fan to this bathroom. There is none in this bathroom. It will have new wiring and switch.

It also seems one option is to install a humidity sensor wall switch vs having the sensor in the fan itself. 

Oh man, so many options. :) 

- Dedicated switch

- Dedicated switch with humidity sensor built in 

- Fan Switch connected to light switch

- Exhaust fan with no sensors

- Exhaust fan with humidity sensor

- Exhaust fan with humidity sensor + motion sensor

I came across several posts suggesting to wire exhaust fan to the light switch in bathrooms so it turns on automatically when the light is turned on.

* This seems like it's based on assumption that people will turn on light. During Summer in California, there is plenty of light and a light is not required at all times, will people NOT turn it on?

* Does the frequent on/off of fan wear it out faster? (since we really only need it during a shower, and most people go into a bathroom for other reasons...)

What do you advise?

I don't like to deal with small (~$500 worth) of repairs, e.g. plumbing etc. Is it normal to just write in the lease that the tenant be responsible for all <$500 worth of home repair expenses? In California.

$1000?

I am stuck and not sure what to do. 

I live in the Bay Area. My primary home right now is one that I bought 50% share with another family member. It is sufficient for now (good schools and commute) and with own private living (in an ADU), so I don't have an urgent need to relocate and purchase my own 100% primary home. I have 1M on hand (half in stock market).

Long term, I would like to purchase a dream home in the Bay Area, but am waiting for the next down cycle for RE.

In the mean time, should I put some of the money into a SFH rental? I don't want to go too high, so am looking for homes that are less than 1M (that is the only way I could afford another 3rd "dream" home in the future). But going for <1M means I have to out of the Bay Area (e.g. Livermore).

The rents are decent *now* but it's not a high tech area, so I expect longer rental vacancies if I have it. What makes this worse is that we don't know what will happen with COVID. I expect Livermore to become a buyer market if government doesn't bail people out further.

What should I do?

Just sit tight another 6 months and see? or just go for it (a rental home)?