All Forum Posts by: Eli Altman

ok, small update:

i compared my options. based on youtube i should be able to crack the thing open with a long pry bar ($16, as my normal crow bar doesn't look like it'll give me enough leverage) in ~2 minutes. how do they get away with calling these things "safe"? this is clearly the fun/storage wars/small-time heist option.

i also emailed first alert, the manufacturer, and they told me that if i send them a notarized statement of ownership ($15 for notary) that they'll email me the combination. this way i'll end up with a $120 not-so-safe of my own. i could sell it and make a few bucks or keep it long enough to forget it in a property at which point one of you fine people will buy the place and exercise option 1: attack it with a crowbar. 

plan is to open it up on sunday. i'll post what i find.

a resounding "open it" from the community. next time i'm up there i'll bust it open and post what i find. if it's drugs they're your drugs not my drugs.

Yeah, yeah, my first thought was opening it too. Sort of like a mini-episode of Storage Wars. Photo is attached. Honestly seems like more trouble than it's worth. 

So I was doing a move out walk-through with a tenant and saw a big box on a shelf in the laundry room. I asked him about it. He said he had no idea what it was and that it was there when he moved in in 2009. Felt pretty heavy. I spun it around a bit and saw that it's a First Alert fire safe with a standard rotating dial, about 18" cubed. The property has turned over twice since the tenant moved in so tracking down who it belongs to is likely a chore. I can see the serial number so I could check with First Alert to see if it's registered. Other than that, not sure what to do. Any advice? Thanks.

Hi,

I'm about to turn my first unit. I have a tenant moving out and this is my first opportunity to improve an apartment. Market rents are about $150 more than what the existing tenant is paying. I'm curious if I need a GC or if I should split everything out – which would be a lot more to manage.

Here's what I'm looking to do:

1. Patch and pain
2. Replace carpet with more durable flooring
3. Install bathroom fan
4. Fix small amount of dry rot on exterior railing
5. Remove mini-blinds and install more durable window coverings
6. Replace living room light fixture

I know that some of these (4,5,6) could probably be handled by a handyman but I'm looking for the best approach overall. Any recommendations or referrals would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

@Adam London Thanks for the recommendation–they look pretty nice. I'll reach out to them about permitting, etc.

@Michaela G. It'd be pretty sweet to have an Airstream back there. I guess my concerns at that point would be handling sewage/wastewater. I guess I'd just have that cleaned out as needed?

@J. Martin The primary residence is 1200 sf and the lot is 4800. the pad is about 2/5s of the backyard (around 10x25). there's a crappy shed that covers half of the pad right now. i hear you on going bigger, but realistically i don't think i could get anything bigger than a 1br out there. i'd be open to both airbnb or having someone on a lease. 

thanks @Lee Ripma and @Chris Mason!

i'm certainly open to stick construction. the footprint i have available to me is about 10x16, so 160sq ft.

so if i'm at $750/sq ft (zestimate/sqft of home only), and the kithaus k4 fully loaded is 226 sqft the math would be 750/sf*.75*226 = 127k  the unit costs 58k leaving me with 69k for demo, permitting, plumbing and electrical. that seems pretty doable. what's a good baseline for these costs considering i already have water and electrical out to where i'd be putting the unit?

would doing stick construction cost me more in permitting/planning?

the dream would be to build out a shipping container. i think the main thing that attracts me to them is that they're basically indestructible. would be nice when the inevitable earthquake rolls around.

Does anyone have experience adding pre-fab studios to backyards? I have a 2/1 property in North Oakland that's zoned for two dwellings. I have electricity and water already in the backyard and a sizeable cement pad. I've looked up the zoning laws and haven't found any deal breakers. I'm considering putting up a pre-fab studio and renting it our either as an airbnb or regular rental. I'm not far from Cal and the Bay Area has a housing shortage so I'm not too concerned about finding a renter. I am however very concerned about construction cost. 

Has anyone done this before? Any advice/assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, 

I'm a buy & hold investor in California (surprise given the subject, i know) and I'm curious about other investors earthquake strategies:

• Do you just pray for the best and plan to take a take write-off if you're wiped out?
• Do you only buy in areas that are likely to be spared the worst of an earthquake?
• Do you do certain upgrades to your properties? (bolting/strapping/gas shut-off...)
• Do you get earthquake insurance once you pay off a certain % of the loan or reach a certain cash flow threshold?
• Do you have a preference for single story buildings?
• Do you have another strategy entirely?

I know that risk is part of the game here. I would just like to know how other people approach an "it's not if, but when" scenario.

Thanks!