All Forum Posts by: Negar P.

@Theresa Harris thanks for your input. I meant firefighters. This neighbor has problems with everyone in the neighborhood, frequently calls the authorities with false alarms on everyone. We get a bigger share of his nuisance though because we are adjacent to him

Hi all,

We got our first deal in March and we are in the process of remodelling it for a house hack. We have an adjacent neighbor that has harassed us and our contractors multiple times in different occasions. Anytime someone new comes to our house he comes outside and turns on his car alamrs (has multiple huge vans with loud alarms). He has made a scene in front of our house 3 times so far for different stupid reasons. The last one was today, when our contractors were interrupted in the middle of their lunch by firfighters jumping inside the house from open windows! Followed by gas company people. Our contractor also got a call from the city. Turns out our neighbor has called them all claiming he smells gas and fire. Both the gas company and the city checked on our contractor's work and said it is correct and there is no trace of gas (the valve had been shut off from the beginning of the remodelling in March!). Our contractor also got this in writing from the gas company that there was no trace of gas leakage or anything.

This neighbor also has caused similar issues for the other adjacent house to his and a couple of other houses in the neighborhood.

Anyway, I wonder what you guys would do in a similar situation? We are particularly worried about this guy causing issues for our future tenants or even worse, causes all prospective renters to run away from this property just because of his craziness. Should we talk to the Sherrif or a lawyer?

Hi all,

We are remodelling a kitchen in a single level 2250 sqft house in California. The current kitchen layout is L shaped and has an island (3x6), in the center. The kitchen sink and the dishwasher are in this island and if you stand behind the sink you will be facing the living room and will be seeing a view from the living room windows (multiple big windows). All other appliances are located in the wall behind you (14 ft wall). And more cabinets are on the wall on your right side (this is the small wall of the L). There are no windows on any of these walls.

For the new layout, I wonder if we should keep the sink and the dishwasher in the island or move them to the wall on the right side? If we move them we will have a big one piece island but the sink will be facing a wall.

Which way is more desirable for future buyers or renters? One big piece island or sink facing the living room windows.

Please also consider that it won't cost us extra to move the sink and dishwasher, so money-wise both layouts will be the same.

@Matt Devincenzo thank you. Looking forwaed to hearing from you.

@Matt Devincenzo

Hi Matt. Thanks for your response. Do you know anyone in Mission Viejo who is familiar with city politics and can help us? I would like to hire them if possible

@Jon H.

The city says the sliding door will be approved contingent the neighbor's signature

@Jon H.

Hi Jon, thanks for your response.

We are also adding two bedrooms and two bathroom inside plus major face lift of the property and repipe. This sliding door was a part of the big plan, however the big plan has already been approved. The only part that hasn't is the sliding door!

@Joe Homs

Hi Joe, thanks for your quick response. The neighborhood doesn't have an HOA. We have already tried to get the neighbor's signature but he says he will only sign if we write a letter signing we will never make the house a business. Now our plan is not to do so, however as owners we find this request unreasonable since it will give legal rights over the property to someone who has no interest in it. Plus my husband has a side real estate photography business whose address has always been our primary residence wherever we lived.

The neighbor is really difficult to deal with, threatend to sue us the first time we ever met and doesn't believe us when we say we want to move in, which is the actual plan.

About the opening, the existing window is really big. Our contractor has calculated and it seems like if we make it a sliding door, the width of the openning may become smaller. It definitely won't get bigger though.

But the main question is based on the code and the characteristics of the situation, do we need the neighbor's signature for this? I don't see how this will affect him in the first place...

Hi all,

My new property is located at Mission Viejo, California. It is a single family home separated by its adjacent neighbors with masonry walls. I have been told that to convert an already existing window to a sliding door, I will be required to get my adjacent neighbor's signature. Following is the code that is referenced for this. I know it is kind of long but I would really appreciate it if you could read it and let me know what you think? Do we need the neighbor's signature based on this? I would like to argue that this code doesn't apply to changing an existing window to a sliding door where the width of the opening doesn't change and it won't affect the neighbor's privacy due to existence of a masonry wall. The wall is about 5 feet tall and each property is 5 to 6 feet away from the wall. Please let me know if I have an argument here to talk to the city?

"9.43.010 COMPATIBILITY IN RESIDENTIAL ZONES
No person shall construct any dwelling, accessory building, or structures, improvements, patio covers, roofs, balconies, decks, porches, terraces, exterior steps or stairways, walls, fences, antennas, spas, swimming pools, or make any additions to, or modify, any structure, or install a new roof on any structure, on any parcel in a residential zone in the City for which a building permit is required unless the resulting construction is found to be compatible with the neighborhood within which it is located. The design criteria and review processes contained in this Chapter are provided to protect and maintain the established character of all residential neighborhoods within the City.
9.43.015 OBJECTIVES
In order to maintain neighborhood compatibility, any proposal for construction within a residential zone shall comply with the following objectives:
(a) Natural Amenities
Improvements to residential property shall respect and preserve, to the greatest extent practicable, the natural features of the land, including the existing topography and landscaping.
(b) Neighborhood Character
Proposals shall be reasonably compatible with the existing neighborhood character in terms of the scale of development of surrounding residences, particularly those within 300 feet of the proposed development parcel boundaries. While many elements can contribute to the scale of a residential structure, designs should minimize the appearance of over or excessive building substantially in excess of existing structures in the neighborhood. The square footage of the structure and the total lot coverage should reflect the uncrowded character of the City and the respective neighborhood. The height of the structures shall maintain, to the extent reasonably practicable, consistency with the height of structures on neighboring parcels.
(c) Privacy
Design proposals shall respect to the extent reasonably practicable the existing privacy of adjacent parcels by maintaining an adequate amount of separation between the proposed structure and adjacent parcels, and the design of balconies, decks, and windows should respect the existing privacy of adjacent parcels.
(d) Views
Designs should consider, to the extent reasonably practicable, neighbor's existing views.
9.43.020 PROCESS
The following requirements shall apply to all proposals for construction of new, or modification of, or addition to existing structures, for all residential parcels.
...
(d) Submission to Adjoining Property Owners
If, in the opinion of the Director, a proposed improvement would directly impact a neighboring parcel, the applicant shall submit the application for Architectural Review to the owner of the adjoining parcel for review and comment.
..."

Thank you everyone for your help. I think my mistake was to expect the net income to be 3 times rent, that was making things a lot harder. We are passing on this candidate anyway because she wants to live with her boyfriend whom she doesn't want to add to the lease.