All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Chris Martin

  Thanks for your input on this. I am still working through the process. I've had a lot of frustration. There just isn't that much information or experience out there.  I agree, though, it would be interesting to see how profitable the "conversion reversion" niche could be.

Hi Bryan,

I've had situations similar to yours, dropped the rent by $25 or $50 and then gotten a whole new bigger and better pool of applicants. Where I am in California, rents are really high. What I've seen is that some of the better tenants have a budget.  They know what they can pay for rent and they are not going over that.  When I do a Craigslist ad, I always note the following: no section 8, we will run a credit and background check, no evictions.  Perhaps you're doing that too. I know around here, I still get people who apply even with lousy credit and an eviction. Some people just hope they can slip through.

Are the other rentals you see listed moving at all?  If they are, I'd be curious about what they're doing differently. If they aren't moving it could be the price.  I wish you luck.  Please let us know how things work out.

@Daria B. One of my units has a foundation from 1915. The house was basically rebuilt in 1940. It has a small addition and two-car garage added in the 1980s. As @Steve B. says, the construction is excellent.  We had to get a new heating system, and we will need a re-pipe at some point, but we've owned it for 20 years.  Beyond that, all the fixes have been typical -- new flooring when needed and minor repairs. If you feel the house is solid and want to move forward, I suggest having your contractor look it over. If it were me, I'd also ask my plumber to take a look. You might want to look into required disclosures concerning lead-based paint. I have these in my lease agreements, but it's never been an issue. Every surface has been ultra-cleaned and painted over many times. We keep it fresh so chips don't happen.    If it checks out and all the numbers are good, it could be a great investment.  Good luck. I'll be interested to hear what you decide to do.

Hi Kellen,

Welcome to BP and to our beautiful area in California. BP is full of supportive and encouraging folks with a ton of knowledge. You won't be disappointed.  Best of luck to you!

@Cornelius Charles Best of luck to you. SoCal is an unusual market. I admire your drive and focus.  Good for you for putting your goals out there and making yourself accountable. That is an excellent beginning! I look forward to hearing more from you!

Wow! Beautiful! Impressive! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.  Inspiring!

I think you’ve done a pretty good job of holding the line. The main problem for me in these situations is the sight of that email in my inbox and the feeling that I’m being nagged. I’ve had very similar tenant situations, which had a similar trajectory — daily requests at first, then monthly, then eventually spreading out even more.

Here’s my two cents:
Tenants like this often take very good care of the property.
Many tenants have the attitude, “It can’t hurt to ask.” So they always ask.  You just have to say no a lot.
As you’ve been doing, prioritize tasks that need attention according to your needs, not hers. i.e., safety, property value, etc. Many minor repairs can be deferred indefinitely without jeopardizing habitability.
Even if she has access to lawyers, most decent lawyers aren’t keen on filing frivolous lawsuits.
Try not to let it get to you. ; )
Don’t renew her lease if you really can’t stand it. Sometimes a steady rent check is worth the trade off of dealing with a tenant’s personality. Sometimes it just isn’t .

I truly feel your pain and wish you the best of luck!

Yes, definitely come to Santa Barbara! We need your tourism dollars! LOL. Seriously though, our town is lovely and is on the way to San Francisco. We even have our own little wine country in the North County.  

In terms of investment opportunity, things are pricey out here, but I don't think it's impossible to find deals that could generate a decent return.  The starting price just might be a bit higher than other areas. Or possibly a lot higher -- honestly, I am shocked everyday by what houses can fetch around here!

Here's a link to SB information http://www.santabarbaraca.com/things-to-do/  

Best of luck to you!

@Michael J.  Thanks for your comments. 

I'm not afraid to raise rents, and I don't think any Santa Barbara area renters think that SB landlords are particularly charitable : ) The big obstacle to bringing the unit up to market was money. We didn't have the funds to make necessary improvements all at once. It was safe and solid, but not on par with our other rentals that fetch a higher rent. So my plan had been to make an improvement, then raise the rent and continue that pattern over a year or so. So it was never our intent to "lose" $270 for 10 years. We had just put a new floor in a portion of the unit and I was about to raise the rent around the time of the original post. And, just to be clear, the tenant had been getting regular rent increases, just at a lower percentage than our other units.

However, shortly after the original post, I updated with the news that the tenant was moving out. So now we're having to do improvements now that we would have spread out over the next year. It will all work out. We will have to use more credit than we wanted to, but we will make that back quickly enough once it's rented.