All Forum Posts by: Maria Amaro

If the meter is running in the middle of the night when no one is using water in the house, you probably have a leaky pipe. Go turn off all the water in the unit, including manually shutting off the toilets, etc and watch the meter. If it's in the walls, it can go on for years until it shows up as mold or a water spot in the drywall. If it's a slab leak under your concrete, it can also go for years and be difficult to detect, and cause sooo much damage. 

I see Chinese investors do this in SoCal, even from overseas without looking at the property. There's one in Brea(867 Oak Knoll) that rented for 3700 a month and the owner purchased for over 910k( I think it could have rented for more as is, even more if they would have replaced the flooring).   20% down and 3.15% would be a 4250 a month payment. Much of the time, though, they pay in cash, so it cash flows, and it's just a place to park their money for a long time. I guess it makes sense that way, but it's risky if you are putting 20% down and get one of the professional tenants out there that doesn't pay rent for a year and then destroys your house when they finally leave. They exist in nicer areas also. 

Owner financing? Like lease to own? I don't know a lot about that, maybe. 

Im hearing some people think it would mean more big investors going to single family homes, however the proposal is 500k cap per year, not per property. 

Sell the second one,it's a great time to sell a condo right now. House prices have increased a ton and more people are looking at condos. I've seen most condos sell faster now here in north Orange County than in the past few years, and many with a bidding war. 

Biden just announced a proposal to cap tax benefits for 1031 at 500k. How is this going to affect the market? Will investors hold on to their properties longer? Will that mean less inventory on the market? 

Has it held up where you saw it used? I saw one review that said it failed after 10 years and another after 3. The pricing seems to be all over the place as well. 

      Hello! I am in north Orange County in SoCal. We're looking at putting in an offer on a house that the current owner has modified to rent out two rooms, each with their own bathroom and outdoor entrance. 

.     The first room is part of the original house and has a bedroom, renovated bathroom, and the only laundry area(with sink)in the house. It can be closed off from the rest of the house, but the laundry would have to be relocated. The old laundry area could become a kitchenette with a sink, fridge, microwave, coffee pot, etc. 

.     The second room with bathroom used to be a sunroom, I'm not sure if it's permitted. There's an entrance to the house through a sliding glass door and also access to the outside through its own door. No sink, but enough room for a microwave and mini fridge. 

     My questions are, in California if someone rents out one room in their house, from what I understand, all that's needed for eviction is a 30 day written notice, no court process. If you rent out more than one, regular laws apply. If I AirBNB one room and rent the other monthly, will I still be able to evict the monthly tenant with a 30 day notice(no court) if need be? Also, the possibly unpermitted work concerns me. It looks well done, but will it affect the appraisal? The owners are asking a million, and have had it listed for over two weeks, which is a long time in this market. They also had it listed in 2013 and  2014 without it selling. Another house we looked at today had back to back tours and booked solid and this one didn't have any other people there. I don't know that we could offer less in this market, but I'd like to, the home is well maintained, but needs some updating. We can afford the monthly without renting out the rooms, but would be nice to be able to rent at least one. Thanks in advance for any responses! 

In SoCal most water treatment involves using additives like chloramine that create pinhole leaks in copper pipes. It can take years for a leak to become large enough to be noticed. Definitely use PEX for the repipe. Check for mold also, black mold grows easily in sheetrock and especially if there's standing water for a while. You can get sued for this by the tenant. I don't know if you want to incur the expense, but there are devices you connect to your water meter that have an app and will detect a water leak.