All Forum Posts by: Danny Farrell

@Cassi Justiz thanks! Good advice.

Hey BP Friends! I bought my first duplex almost 2 years ago, and am currently house hacking. The rental unit pretty much pays my mortgage, and I've built up some decent equity. I've also accumulated a lot of credit card debt with renovations, lawyers, and a tenant from hell. I'm looking to do a cash out refi to go from a 10-1 ARM to a 30-yr fix. I plan on keeping this property and using equity to buy more in the future. My mortgage bank is offering a no cost loan (cash out refi) where I would take out money to pay off all of my credit card debt (80K) and have an additional 88K at a rate of 3.625% 30 yr fix. Ideally, whenever this next recession hits, I would like to have some cash to buy something on sale. I can also always do a HELOC in the future as well, since appreciation in usually on my side here in LA. Does this make sense, or does taking out the extra 88K seem like a poor plan? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi @Jacqueline Chang! Thank you. I decided to go with air bnb at the moment because in my area, I believe I can make more money and get higher quality tenants...at least those are my thoughts. I'm almost done renovating. I also inherited a tenant from hell when I bought the place, which left a bad taste in my mouth, so now I like the idea of people coming and then LEAVING :). I'll have to see how the air bnb laws  change, though.

@Bobby Cauley Jr. I'm almost finished renovating, so I haven't started my Air Bnb journey yet. Although, as @Clarence Johnson mentioned, they're cracking down on the rules...so I have to strategize.

Hey @Robert Gati, I ended up deciding to go the Air Bnb route, so I never ended up advertising a long term rental. Although, @Nabil Suleiman has great suggestions.

Hi Francis, I was just searching for info on a gate opener, and came across your post from 4 years ago. Did you find an opener that you're happy with? I'm installing a new gate, and need to get an opener.

Hi! Does anyone have any experience with replacing your lawn with desert landscaping? My water bill with my automatic sprinklers is too high.

Cool, thanks guys!

Hello! I'm currently renovating my first rental, which I will be air bnb'ing. I'd like to install a home security/alarm system, and was wondering if anyone had any advice on this...how it would work with tenant arming and disarming the alarm, and what's the most efficient dummy-proof way to handle this. Any tips/suggestions?

Hi! I need to insall a new gate in front of my property, for better security. Does anyone recommend a good company or person that installs gates?