All Forum Posts by: Maya V.

I have to work that day, however, I hope to me you all at a future event. I'm still in the learning phase.

 Thank you for the feedback, would love to keep you in my contacts. I like your concept of helping to empower women as I have the same philosophy in construction with women.

@Arlen Chou, I live in North Oakland...can I PM you? Would love to talk to you.

Hey Bpers, 

I have been a member on this site for a couple of years and haven't done squat. I have made some mistakes but don't really want to focus on that. Truth is, I haven't been motivated or hungry enough but now I'm ravenous and ready to go. I own one property that I live in and have an ADU on the property that I rent out which helps.

I'm not quite sure how to get started since I don't have any cash and don't have a high paying job. I've read wholesaling is a good place to start but after reading through some threads here, I'm not sure. I'm looking to make some connections and network. As my profile reads, I live in the SF bay area in Oakland. I'm looking to mentor under someone. What I have to offer is experience as a union electrician and general construction knowledge ( I don't do this profession anymore due to the fact that I was not passionate about it). I do have a full time job. The bay area is expensive so not a great place to start as a newbie with no cash. Ultimately, I would love to be rehabbing/flipping and diversifying with other strategies as well. 

Hopefully I'm posting in the most effective section. I'm am not looking for a magic bullet or any handouts but some solid info and hopefully mentoring so I can launch. My work ethic is second to none and I'm prepared to work hard.

Parts of me is starting to wonder if I should sell my current home of 22 years (scary thought) which I roughly have at least $400K equity and use the proceeds to invest in other endeavors. 

 Yeah, that sounds about right...and more than enough to cover the water expense. They are good kids and honestly the best tenant I have ever had. Not trying to gouge her...just trying to make it fair for both parties. Thanks Nancy.

After reading most of the responses to just keep off of the rental agreement I will choose to do that. I really am just trying to decide how to negotiate the rent with the addition of another person in the unit. My water bill is about $85/mo. & this is for two people on the premises (she & I ~ I live in a detached main house while she lives in the cottage) So without getting too technical and cross examing my water bill and trying to figure out how much extra usage there will be, I'm wondering if $100-200/mo. for him is fair? She pays $1,300/mo now.

Hi folks, my dream tenant wants to let her boybriend move in. The place has always been rented as a small studio really only designed for one person but will work in a pinch for a couple. Her plan is to move him in this early Fall and then the two of them will look for a larger place sometime within a year.  I don't really have a problem with it but I I will need to renegotiate the rent with her for the extra person and water usage and wondering how to come up with a fair amount for that. 

I also am wondering what I need to do to amend the rental agreement to include him.

SF bay area/$1,300 mo. ~ water and garbage paid by me.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Kathryn, thanks for the reply. I'm not sure how to interpret the clauses of that Article, especially with my tired eyes right now. Specifically with my "lease break clause". I am pretty small potatoes over here and just have one rental unit. It looks like I will have to pay a lawyer to get to the bottom of this. I just thought there might be an Oakland landlord that could chime in. However, after looking more carefully at this article it looks like this section:

F. The City Council believes that the relationship between landlords and tenants in smaller  owner-occupied rental properties involve special relationships between the landlord and the tenants residing in the same smaller property. Smaller property owners also have a difficult time understanding and complying with rent and eviction regulation. The Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance recognizes this special relationship and exempts from its coverage owner-occupied properties divided into a maximum of three units. For these reasons, the City Council believes owner-occupied rental properties exempt from the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance should similarly be exempt from the Rent Adjustment Program so long as the property is owner-occupied. In order to permit tenants to adjust to the possibility of unregulated rents, and to address the potential for abuse of the owner-occupancy exemption by landlords who are motivated to move into a property to gain an exemption just to increase rent and not to reside in the property, this exemption should not take effect for one year after the amendment to This chapter exempting these rental units is adopted, or one year after the landlord begins owner-occupancy, whichever is later.

I'm not sure you answered my specific question, but you have brought the above paragraph to my attention which looks like it directly applies to me NOW being exempt from Oakland's rent control and the "Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance" since I moved back in and Owner occupy one of the two units. Very interesting - I will definitely have to get clarification from a legal professional on this info. 

Thanks, Kathryn

Can anyone tell me if it is legal to include an early lease break clause in Oakland, CA? I have scoured the internet and cannot find any information. The only information I am getting is from the EzLandlordForms website that says:

"California Civil Code requires the landlord to mitigate damages if a tenant needs to break a lease early. Generally a pre-determined or set fee may be considered a penalty, therefore it is usually not permitted."

This is related to my earlier post -

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1349...

I'm about to get him to sign an Early Lease Break Addendum stating that we will meet in the middle and he will pay for one of the two month's he is bailing on the lease and damages to the counters which were not easy water stains but probably oil stains and I will need for sure that whole month to get the unit back in shape. I was hoping to find out from possibly someone who knows about Oakland in particular and if I'm able to use an early lease break clause here.

Thanks in advance

Hey thanks to all replies and to answer the questions asked:

I have been renting for 14 years at this residence and these 2 lease-breaks were the only two times in that time. My current screening process is using the "Smartmove" screening service used here in BP. 

I agree that it is a good thing that he is leaving because he is messy. We have agreed verbally that he will pay for one of the two months of lease break and the damages to the counters. I am happy with that but need to get it in writing.

My next lease will definitely have a lease break clause in it. can someone point out how that clause should look please? 

Also, I feel going in quarterly is fair to keep the tenant on track. My two main concerns for my tenant is paying rent on time and keeping the unit well taken care of. Easier to screen for the first one and harder in my experience to screen for the later.

Thanks