All Forum Posts by: Eric G.

@Account Closed

Just to elaborate a little further. While the bill does not take effect until January 1st, there is a clause in it that applies the rent increase caps retroactively to any tenant that has received a rent increase since March 15, 2019. So if a tenant was given a rent increase after that date that exceeds the cap, come January 1st the rent rate has to adjust down to the prior rate plus 5% and inflation. 

The smallest of silver linings is that if you happen to be in that situation, the landlord is not obligated to refund any overage collected here in 2019. You simply have to adjust the rent down on January 1, 2020. 

@Account Closed

Unfortunately you are the landlord that this law penalizes the most. You are only going to be able to raise rent 5%+the inflation measure. Technically, I believe you could give a 60 day notice of rent increase tomorrow to whatever inflated amount you wanted, and you’d get to enjoy the higher rate for about a month and a half. But come January 1, the rents have to revert back to your current rents plus 5% and inflation. 

@Jeff Fioresi I’ve poured over the text of the bill a number of times in the last 24 hours, and I’ve come to the same conclusion as you regarding just cause evictions. It doesn’t specify its retroactive like the rent increases, so I interpret that to mean it won’t take effect until January 1st. I watched the live stream of the vote yesterday and my heart sank when the results were tallied up. I’m never in favor of more government regulation. I think their hearts are in the right place, but their policies are misguided. Their mission is to curb homelessness as a result of the housing crisis. But they need look no further than Los Angeles to see a case study in progress. Los Angeles already has rent control measures similar to those passed, and yet, their homelessness is rampant and probably getting worse. And I can attest that rents are crazy high anyway. Might have something to do with the laws of supply and demand. Besides, if a landlord evicts a tenant, or raises rent to a level that essentially pushes a tenant out, it’s a zero sum transaction. When that tenant leaves, a new one comes in. You didn’t add or subtract to the homeless count. The only way to curb the problem is to increase the supply of housing.

@Rob Barry In theory as time passes your rental income will increase while your mortgage will remain fixed. You can put that excess profit towards capes.

@Brian Flint If you truly have $0 and you have no prior experience, I’d say it’s going to be hard to find a lender willing to put up 100% of the purchase as well as 100% of rehab. Maybe not impossible, but very unlikely. I’d say your best bet is to wholesale this one to build your reserves.

Did you design and pick out all fixtures/finishes/cabinets/tile work? Or did you use a designer?

Hey Peter, What were the specs on the house when you bought it? Beds/baths/sqft. Did you add any square footage? Knock down walls? Etc. And I’d love to get your hard money contact. A PM would work if you don’t want to post here. Congrats on the great work.

I can’t speak to the legitimacy of it, but as a property manager I get these requests all the time. And I reject them every time. Even with above market rent, why would you want a guaranteed short term renter? Your biggest cost as a landlord is vacancy and turnover costs. Even if it’s just 6 months, you may need to redo paint. Definitely need to clean carpets, if any. You may have additional marketing costs. and just the overall headache. My opinion: hold out for the long term renter. But then again, maybe you want short term so you can try your hand and selling again.

I was looking into a similar situation in Los Angeles this past year. The lot needed about 50 sqft to get to the minimum to be able to add a third unit. I forget the specifics, but when I spoke with a planner, he mentioned that if the deficit was within 5 or 10% of the needed sqft, a true variance wouldn’t be needed. The building department could issue an exception. There was a specific term he used, but again, my memory is fuzzy. But the point is, he said it was doable without the hassle of a true variance. Maybe Oakland has the same thing? Ultimately I scrapped my project because there was no way to add the requisite parking to add the third unit. So don’t forget about that. Good luck!

@andrewcook where is the 12 unit you’re buying?