All Forum Posts by: Bettina F.

It sounds very doable to me, but check out the AirBnB laws for LA.  I am in northern Idaho, and I AirBnB the guest apartment on my farm.  We are in a summer resort area.  Because the apartment is poorly insulated, we winterize the apartment, shut off the water, and close it down for the winter months.  I simply blocked out the winter dates as unavailable on my listing calendar.  This has not effected my bookings for the summer, which is the high demand time anyway.

AirBnB is very flexible, so she could easily rent out her unit year round and simply block off the times she plans on visiting LA. This would allow her to keep track of her STR and make any repairs needed -- and might even make part of her trip tax deductible. The key to long distance STR management is a dependable cleaning staff that cleans and restocks the unit, and a good check in/communication process. There are other tips. For example, she should somehow decorate the front door of her AirBnB, or paint it a different color and equip it with a combination lock. Then when she sends a photo of the front door to her guests with the check in combo, they will be less likely to bother her LT tenants by going to the wrong door. Entire websites and YouTube channels exist full of STR tips.

James-- great job with the renovations.  Maybe I am weird, but I get a great sense of accomplishment from turning a sad place into a bright, clean, attractive space.

Did the renovations take care of the bedbugs or did you have to do a special treatment?

My policies state that all applicants have a credit/criminal/eviction report and pass my preset qualifications.  My credit check provider (National Credit Reporting) requires a SSN to run the reports.  I have been in this situation and had direct conversations with my credit check provider about this.  I have also had Fair Housing training that emphasizes the importance of a consistent process for all applicants.

To alter my policies for those without a SSN would be discriminatory, and illegal.  It would also be unwise for me from a business standpoint.

It is important that we be accurate in the advice we give. 

Of course, as a LL you do not need to screen your applicants.  Some LLs rent to the first applicant who can come up with move-in monies.

By "foreigners", I assume you mean foreign nationals.  Visa holders who are legal  to work will have SSNs and you screen them like any other applicant.   Visa holders who are students will have documentation from their school, award letters and student-rental LLs usually collect rent up front for the school year.

Do not change your screening process based on nation of birth.   That would be discriminatory.

I encourage all LLs to spend 30 minutes reading the US Secretary of State website.  You learn a lot.  Legal visa holders planning to work in the US apply for their SSN while still in their home country.  Once they enter the US, they will receive a Social Security card with work authorization in 3 weeks.

This is the exact reason I charge an application fee and am very open about my requirements.  An applicant who knows they will not qualify will not pay the app fee -- they will self screen out.  The only thing you have to do is make sure you clearly communicate to the applicants is that you always run credit/criminal/eviction checks and send the required letter when you disqualify based on credit score.

I would call it playing at being a grown up or Animal House.

I once got a call about a vacancy from a very young sounding girl.  She and her boyfriend wanted to move from rural Idaho to the big city of Post Falls.  They didn't have jobs, she had no idea what their monthly income was, and no idea when this move was going to take place.

Something in her young voice made me take pity on her.  I explained how one rented an apartment, how much cash they would have to have, how they should present themselves  to potential LLs when the time was right.  How important it was to have marketable skills so one could get a good job .  How it would be wise for her to get a job while she was still living with her parents and save for a year,get some work experience, then get a job offer in the "city" .  Then she would be in a better place to rent an apartment.  She seemed to take this all in.  I hope I helped her.

This might be what your group of young men need to hear.

Tax refunds are just around the corner, and soon potential tenants will have a chunk of cash for 1st and SD.  Of course you have to have been employed in 2017 to get a tax refund.

BTW, for many years I was an RN Case Manager in Washington.  Unless the law has been changed within the past two years, AFDC recipients were limited to only having financial assets of less than $2K  -- so if she really has the ability to pay 6 months "up front" she is committing welfare fraud.  

5 years ago in Washington NO ONE was being charged with simple possession of marijuana.  So it was either hard drugs or she was busted for intent to distribute and pled guilty to the lessor charge in a plea deal (very common).  You should be able to look her up on the Washington Courts data base and she how that case was adjudicated.

If her mother has offered to co-sign, is her mother employed with garnishable wages and does she own property in Washington?  People on Social Security retirement or disability are not garnishable, so this may be an empty promise.

 They ARE going to continue this behavior!  Do you really think that any legal notice you give them is going make a difference for people willing to live amid piles of feces and urine?  There is mental illness and/or drugs involved.  Get rid of them before the weather turns warm and the stench makes ripping up the carpet and subfloor that much worse.  

Just buy the next higher version of Turbo Tax or Tax Cut above the basic version -- check on line or the back of the box to make sure this version includes rental property.  The program will walk you through it.  Save your receipts from the date it was put into service as a rental.

I always did my own taxes when I just had one unit.  Start early, as the program will prompt you for necessary information that you might need time to gather.   It was easy.

Dong, thanks for posting this.  

I am not from California, and have no dog in this fight, but this is important.  The political winds are blowing against landlords in every market.   The public increasingly sees us as greedy and opportunistic --  they do not understand our increased costs or our need for a reasonable return on our investments. 

I hope all the CA investors call and email their state representatives.  It makes a difference.