All Forum Posts by: Kevin Lefeuvre

Yes Amy, there is a certificate of occupation of course. 

any idea? any one ?

Would love to hear from landlords who have units which are not fully permitted or those in similar situations of faux duplex. Thanks

Hi everyone!

I am buying a 2 stories SFR in a R1 zone in LA. It's a "faux" duplex and the price does reflect that fact. 2Bd/1Ba upstairs 2Bd/2Ba downstairs. Each floor has it's separate entrance, and living spaces (including kitchen). It appears obvious that former owners have used it as 2 separate units for over a decade. Utilities are common though. Previous owners had obtained permit for all the structure and the bathrooms, (sqft tax/MLS/real are all matching) but I don't see any permit for the 2nd kitchen while checking at the city. Also the seller does warn "Buyer to check permits", as usual. I conclude that one kitchen is not permitted. Property got foreclosed last year and a builder remodeled it entirely and is now selling to me. General inspection came very good except for electricity panel which has not been updated that I will update (got discount for it). I intend to live in the upstairs unit and rent downstairs.
Here's my question:
What is my risk if I rent the lower unit? What if , in the lease agreement, I disclose the inspection report to the tenant, in writing, and the fact that the kitchen might not be permitted but it's safe according to the inspection?

Do you see any difference between a long term rental (standard) and a short term, in regards with the risk attached to the non permitted kitchen?

Sorry for the long question and thanks for your feedback.

wow great advice Theresa. 

seems a great and advanced approach !  Wish California would do the same . 

Wow Blair these are very helpful recommendations. Thanks.

Fight them Kristi. Bring up the loss of business and their liabilities there.

Anaheim, the city, is going to have to deal with hundreds of lawsuits. And landlords are going to win. But for Anaheim Disney is behind the ordinance and Disney will end up paying for the damages. But in your case, I think the neighbors are going to be into it. Sue those neighbors directly after summons, since they are the cause for your potential (or actual) loss.

Has happened dozens of times here in Cali.

You need help from str lobbying associations. Airbnb can help you find the local ones if not google. 

Neighbors are just jealous. 

Your arguments should be economic : direct tax for the city and indirect income for the retail business in the city thanks to the development of tourism. 

Research the battles in the cities of Anaheim and Newport Beach for more insight. 

And of course you may have a legal case since they let you invest and build that business that they are breaking.

Good luck!

Thanks Michael. It did appear interesting at a first glance. However it's not what I am looking for. The good thing about insideairbnb is that it scans the actual airbnb site (probably once a week or daily), and gives analytics. That's all I need. 
Mashvisors wants to be "smart" and help directly recommending investments, but it can't. As an example for the city of Newport Beach, it gave me 2 properties (trial only gives 2 free) which are both under HOA, where airbnb are illegal. In fact those houses CAN'T be on airbnb and the system just applies general city ratios on any investment (I guess that's how it works).

I also checked on their other data like the cities rated as airbnb friendly eetc, and their data is not up-to-date. For instance Anaheim came as a 10 (means totally VR friendly), which was true until June 2016 but things have changed 180 degrees since then.

Hello Everyone,

I love this forum and how members share information.

I am trying to get data, prior to investment, in cities in LA and OC. Found insideairbnb.com as a very useful site with detail numbers in LA neighborhoods, but they don't have numbers in OC.

Airdna.co seems to offer more cities but it's expensive to buy reports (without even knowing what's inside), for several cities to compare.

Has anyone been there to share some data from Orange County? I am looking into coastal cities (or near to coast) with approved ordinances only and interested in average price/night and occupancy rate mainly. 

Thank you!