All Forum Posts by: Lucas Martinez

 It’s likely pulling data from Santa Barbara County, which includes north county like Santa Maria, Lompoc, orcutt etc

@Nathan Gesner It's immoral to tell them they can't use the garage anymore (with proper notice), but it's not immoral to just evict them without the option to stay? I don't follow that logic. The rental market here in Santa Barbara is brutal. Most renters' worst nightmare is being evicted and having to find somewhere to go. There just aren't any options. 

Tell them what you're doing, give them the option to make their own decision whether they stay or leave. Simple as that. 

But also, don't charge below market rent! Especially if prop 33 passes, you may be stuck with those low rents and be unable to claw back to market, even after vacancy.

The unintended consequence of all the rent control they've been passing in SB & CA as a whole...it incentivizes landlords to increase the rent every year to avoid being stuck with a below market unit.  

 They are on a month to month lease. He can change the lease, which determines both rent and access. So long as he gives the proper notice he can change whatever he decides to change. Tenant had the option for an annual lease, but chose the flexibility of a month-to-month. Well, that decision cuts both ways. 

If they’re on a month to month lease, and you’ve offered them a year long lease that they have opted out of, you can adjust the terms of their lease once their month ends. If they don’t like it, they can try to negotiate the rent down, or they can vacate. @Theresa Harris is right that they won’t be happy, but she’s not right that you would have to lower the rent. Santa Barbara rents have exploded over the last 5-10 years, and they likely won’t find a better deal out there. 

Obviously the best thing is to come to a compromise civilly, assuming they’re strong tenants. But if they spend more than 5 minutes looking at the SB rental market, they will likely see that they are in a great situation and won’t fight too hard. 
 

Things in Michigan are very different than California, I would guess. 

If your SFR is in Santa Barbara proper (or anywhere in South Country, for that matter), you're probably pulling in $1,500 - $2,500 a month per bedroom. We also have absolutely insane tenancy laws designed to protect tenants and make landlords' lives difficult. If things go south with your tenant, there are tons of protections for them to stop paying rent and/or force you to pay relocation fees. 

If this is a good tenant, and they are paying market rent, just spend the $500 to re-landscape the 24 sq ft. 

Do you like this tenant? Is the unit rented at market rate? If it's a good tenant, and you are collecting market rent (which is a lot for a SFR in SB) this sounds like a pretty small job to cover to keep them happy. Switching 24 sq ft to gravel is not an expensive thing to do.

 Welcome to BP, Tim. Local SB investor here. Let me know if I can help you in any way!

 Whoops, replied from the incorrect account. You can see some of our projects in my profile.