All Forum Posts by: Yang Lu

We got a note from one of our tenants requesting reimbursement for an HVAC repair that was done improperly, supposedly causing electricity over-usage. How do you recommend we respond to something like this? Thank you.

Thanks for the information here!

Follow up question:

Is there a formal process for this? e.g. is there a form or something that documents the whole agreement so that the investor does not ultimately flake and use another agent as the listing agent for the renovated property?

What is the default/most secure way to lock in such a deal? 

Let's say I found a great deal, showed it to Investor John. John says "you give back X amount to the seller, or take a flat fee for the purchase, and I'll have you as the listing agent at standard rate."

Is there such a document that legalizes that agreement?

 The attorneys said that adverse possession/prescriptive easements are very hard to pull off here, in this subdivided lots. They're a lot more prevalent in areas like the ones you referred to. 

The prescriptive easements, if they use a fence to block off OUR usage of that land, it's no longer a prescriptive easement. 

 Great points, thanks Joel.

She is a semi retired lady, and likely will not want to spend exorbitant amounts of $ for this, but she also seems like the kind that is irrational (i.e. her anger may cause her to pursue litigation, even though it makes no sense). I think that isn't too big of an issue. Moving the fence does not radically change her preexisting use. She is just enjoying a wider side alley.  

I posted a photo of the situation in the response above. I wonder if you have an idea what we would do about that side door of hers, which currently encroaches 1.5ft on the left side through the boundary line.

 Thanks for the suggestion! We will likely pursue this route. 

So the set up looks like this. The orange fence is our side, and the gray fence is her side. If we demo the concrete, up to the property line, what happens to that door she has there that leads to the side alley? A part of that door will stick over the property line. 

 It is possible that the previous owner built this fence. But he has passed away, so I cannot verify. Does it matter who built it? I think I have the right to tear down the fence, and even cut the concrete that the neighbors poured up to the fence on their side, since all of that is on our land. 

I wish it was as simple as remove the old fence, and build a new fence 1.5ft out. There is concrete on that side that we would have to cut off too in order to build a new fence. The neighbor might blow up if we just decided to tear down the fence and cut the concrete on that side, even though 1.5ft of it is on our side of the boundary line.

 That may have been the case. Some neighbors in this cul-de-sac said back then the owner (when he was alive) built this fence with the help of some people from his church. Not sure what he used as measurement when he put the fence in (whether it was a previous fence, or he just decided to put it somewhere he felt was right?). And then after that, possible that the neighbor poured concrete up to the fence on their side. So now, if we remove the fence, there is still concrete on that side of the fence that is technically "our land."

 Hello Theresa, I tried talking to the county but they say they cannot get involved in this matter, which boggles my mind...

If we pursue the legal route, it's going to get costly, and we would likely ask for legal compensation, but I'm not sure if that is possible.

Hello friends,

My wife and I bought a house here in Blossom Hill, and it was a trust sale as the previous owner passed away. 

Recently we decided to build an ADU, so we did a land survey. The results of the land survey show that the side fence between our neighbor and our house was built 1.5ft into our side, leading to a 3.5ft width of our side walk alley and a 6.5ft side walk alley on her side. This fence has been built for many years, it seems like. The 3.5ft width on our side probably will pose issues going forward. Also, since we discovered this, some people told us we have 3 years to fight for the land back, or there is some kind of statute of limitations after that, in which we will lose the land...

We showed her the survey result and we offered to pay for a new fence altogether (the old fence is falling apart as well), but she refused to agree, and said she is not interested in dealing with us. We talked to the Santa Clara County mediation office, who called her about mediation, but she said she does not want to do mediation. She is not accepting our calls, or answering us when we ring the doorbell.

At this point, we're not sure what to do. Can anyone provide some guidance?

Thank you!

Yang

Kevin, love that you're thinking about this, and considering house hacking.

I bought a 4bed2bath in san jose 2 years ago, and have successfully house hacked for the entire time, paying essentially nothing to live there.

I think a 3/4 bed in the ~1M range would be very good for your situation. If you want to chat more, feel free to message me directly! I can walk you through the pros and cons.