All Forum Posts by: David Luu

Some thoughts: as a way to simplify things with the process and HOA, might be good idea if you can contact owner of the other unit that had similar work done for who they used. Another option could be to inquire with the city's property record and/or permits division to see if you can get the permit/plans related info for that other unit, as reference material. Some of that material you might have to pay for or can only be viewed onsite (and no copying), others can be viewed (and maybe even downloaded) for free. In that info may contain who was the plan developer / architect that you could use. I don't know about Palo Alto, but other bay area cities like San Jose offer the basic permit info online for you to lookup, so you don't have to go to the department to get the info.

Curious, so the condo doesn't have washer/dryer hookup & you wish to install or you wish to relocate the hookup to kitchen from where it originally was?

If the property has a mortgage/lender, and the loan amount is greater than replacement/rebuild cost for property, is it better to have insurance coverage for the loan amount or the replacement cost?

I understand going with the lower amount (rebuild cost) makes financial sense over time/years. But in case of actual disaster occurring, which is easier to deal with in regards to working with lender and the rebuilder/contractor? If covering by loan amount makes it easier to work with lender, is that ease enough to justify the higher cost to get the higher coverage amount vs the rebuild cost?

Just weighing options here. There's not that much articles that talk about this subject online.

@Johnny Hoang can you elaborate on your leasing of the house hack home after you move out? Is it done as a single group lease where all tenants are together a party to the lease? Or do you have individual leases with each tenant?

I recall reading/asking before, and doing individual by the room leases can be a tough and tricky thing to do depending on where you are.

Also how have those leases been working out when you no longer live there? There are some horror stories about managing by the room tenants (vs where tenant family has the whole house) in terms of handling issues, disputes, or making repairs. But I guess that also factors to vetting tenants and what kind of tenants you have.

Just wanted to bring to light the potential issues to part of the house hacking approach.

Good post. Curious, Susan, do you want/need to stay in SF Bay Area? I'm just wondering, you could also relocate to other parts of the Midwest & invest + house hack there as well.

Right, I'd rather not. But I'm just wondering how bad it is in the market for you to "really" really need to do that. Like X in Y homes you'll lose to others without contingencies for example. Unless I suppose you bid higher enough to compensate.

For one who doesn't really care to get the house badly, that's not a bad idea to always put in contingencies. Depends on how much you want a particular house. Given the market I've seen in SF Bay Area, or at least San Jose, not all houses are apples to apples in case you find a gem and don't want to lose it - it may take a while to find a replacement gem if ever. The crappy cheaper houses are a dime a dozen.

A local agent told me for buying homes these days, need to avoid putting in contingencies to get offer accepted by seller. I'm just wondering if it has gotten that competitive and hot a seller's market in the SF Bay Area that one needs to do that. When bought house almost a decade earlier in same area wasn't told of this issue and had contingencies in place. Just wanted a second opinion on this aside from the agent.

I also posted elsewhere online & got one such response: "As a previously licensed property manager, I would first recommend not entering in such an arrangement to the owner, nor would I accept the job due to the complexity and potential disaster it could become. I am sure somebody would do so, but I would imagine it would not be cheap."

Charley, curious, what kind of property are you building? An apartment, condo, 10-plex? Or a 10 bed single family home?

I recently read of renting/leasing a property by the room. But if I'm not mistaken, that's usually managed by the landlord him/herself or delegated to family/friends to help with the management, where someone might live on premises or comes by to check up on the premises from time to time.

I'm just wondering if there are property management firms that also handle dealing with this type of leasing strategy, managing your properties for you. Or do most property managers only deal with whole home/unit leasing, not by the door?