All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

The guy who advised talking with the tenant (not a lawyer first) and having "empathy" . . . 

Bad advice. Don't get emotionally sucked into this prime time drama. Being "nice" with someone who discharges guns indoors--especially because of mental health issues--could get you shot next. 

This is YOUR safety and life at risk. If it were me, I'd get him out ASAP. In your case, a property manager would also help. I live in a duplex and just hired a PM for next door. 

I welcome more density in my back yard with open arms. I just don't want to be enslaved by it. 

It's like being required to stay in an arranged marriage for 5 years, when you never met the person before in your life. And if you leave the relationship before then, you owe the government $100k. 

@Melissa I looked into the website for that program. There are a lot of unanswered questions (what happens to your property taxes after 5 years, who pays for damage/maintenance, what happens if you move/sell before 5 years, etc.)

I wouldn't want to manage and maintain a property, on my own dime, without any compensation for my time, energy, and expenses, no matter who the tenant was. Add to that the type of tenant you have to manage and the type of maintenance that would be required (with a tenant who has no skin in the game and who has historically been unable to keep their housing, for whatever reason)--AND they'd be living literally in my back yard?  

You'd have no physical and emotional distance from your tenant, whom you did not screen and did not choose, and if the relationship went sour, things could get really uncomfortable. At your own home. It would be tragic Sartrian theater.

5 years of high maintenance property management and the headaches/heartaches that will undoubtedly cause isn't worth the $75k or whatever their costs to build a tiny ADU. Plus opportunity cost from no longer being able to build for highest and best use. And if it turns out to be an untenable situation (after 4 years of blood, sweat, and tears), I'm on the hook for all the construction costs?? No thank you.

Totally agree @Jay Hinrichs.  It's nothing short of tragic, really.  

I used to live in Berkeley/Oakland CA in the late '90s during the dot com boom, and in NYC in the early 2000's (pre- and post 9/11).  A couple years ago, Portland surpassed the housing costs of places like Rockridge in Oakland and Albany (formerly regarded as "affordable" places where you could get a 2/1 bungalow for $250k near Berkeley) circa 1998.  With the current very misguided decisions by the Portland City Council (which were NOT, by the way, informed by evidence-based research from experts in housing policy and economics), we're headed down the exact same road as SF and NYC.  I've been saying it in the [pretty active] YIMBY group on facebook that I'm a part of, and I've emailed it multiple times to city council.

History is the best teacher.  

After 9/11, the NYC economy tanked.  A lot of people left NY.  For the first time in a long time, they were advertising decent-sized [brand new!] rentals in the financial district for $900/mo.  In early 2002, I actually re-negotiated my month to month lease in Astoria Queens down from $1600 to $1200, because there were so many cheap rentals available.  

This is the paragon of supply and demand at work.  

The only way to bring down housing costs is to increase supply or decrease demand, whether that's by building more, by emigration, or by something else.  

My mantra to city council these past few months has been, "if you try to force landlords/The Market to solve the affordable housing problem, you'll get Market solutions, which will ultimately hurt those people you're trying to help.  If you want substantive solutions that help rather than hurt the intended recipients, then--just like food stamps and Medicaid--they must come from government or non-profits or public/private partnerships."

I used to believe in the political process, and that if you have facts and research on your side and just let your voice be heard, you can make a difference.  But we're dealing with politicians.  This isn't about helping people.  It's about looking like they're helping people, even if it actually hurts those same people, as long as it keeps them in office.  And it's not just Eudaly, but all the commissioners including the mayor.  It's like that movie, Idiocracy.  

@Jay (this app won't tag people) I did, thanks!! We had breakfast and a great discussion. I really admire the type of projects he's working on.

Thanks for organizing this, JR. I'm posting in the thread this time so I don't show up 2 days early again.

I just found out the cause of my $700 bill (it's normally $300, and I split it with my tenant next door). Tenant told me this morning she noticed her garden hose was on and just running water into the landscaping near her front door. 

@Mike Nuss it was just this property, though another duplex also had a bill that was about $75 higher.

I talked to the PWB yesterday about an unexpected mondo bill.  Went through every possible scenario: dyslexic meter reader (easy to check, just look at the meter and see if it's close to but past the most recent read), leak in main to house (see below), leak in a fixture within house (see below), or just freak usage (good luck).

Here's how to test for a leak in the main:  Shut off water main inside the house.  Check meter.  Does it move?  If not, there's probably not a huge leak in the main.  Wait 10 minutes.  Has it moved since you first checked it?  If so, there might be a slow leak in the main.  

If the meter didn't move in either of those cases, turn on the water in the house but keep all fixtures off.  Check the meter as per above.  If it's moved after 10 minutes and no one has used water inside, then there's water leaking somewhere.  

Toilet dye test: place food coloring in toilet tank.  Wait 10 minutes.  If the bowl water turns the color of the dye, there's a toilet issue.  

Regarding the winter bill setting the sewer rate for the entire year:  The city assumes people irrigate in the summer, so they use the number of winter CCFs to subsequently bill for sewer in the spring, summer, and fall.  If water use is higher in the summer, the sewer CCFs will not rise above what the bill was in the winter.  This is significant, because sewer is more expensive than water.  For example, if you used 30 CCFS in the winter, you'll never get billed more than 30 CCFs for sewer in the summer, even if you use 100 CCFs of water. But if you used 100 CCFs of water in the winter and 30 CCFs in the summer, you'll pay for the full 30 CCFs for sewer, even if half that was used to water your plants and isn't getting treated as sewage.  

The water bureau will make exceptions for freak bills, at least as it relates to setting the yearly CCF sewer use.  But they'll ask you whether it was from a leak or not, and if so, they'll cut you a bigger break than if the freak bill is inexplicable.   

Wow, overwhelming support for a PM, which validates my decision.  

@Andrew Johnson are you from Encinitas?  I grew up there, graduated from San Dieguito High (before it was an "academy"), used to bodysurf at Moonlight beach in February when it's all rocks.  My family still lives there.  Thought about moving back in 2008 after grad school, but I got priced out, haha!  You also invest in North County?  

Welp, I decided to get a PM. 

I felt conflicted at first. Here's a story. Last week I hired a contractor to install 2 water heaters at a duplex.  Cost $357 and he billed hourly. I helped him because he didn't show up with the right tools. I ended up crawling around under the building to run a condensate line (he didn't know about heat pump water heaters) and there was racoon poop everywhere and my borrowed headlamp went out and I was at the property for 4 hours and and and... 

After telling myself, for the umpteenth time, "I'm never doing this again!" I decided to keep my word. And then I listened to this week's podcast, episode 217. Timely.