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All Forum Posts by: Scott J.

Scott J. has started 30 posts and replied 102 times.

Post: What Type of Screw is This?

Scott J.Posted
  • San Juan Capistrano, CA
  • Posts 114
  • Votes 34

After a brutal head-scratching hour I finally got that sucker! Felt better than s... well, nevermind.

It was a square-headed screw that was stripped and had become round. There were actually two of them. On one I was able to put in the screwdriver, tap it with a hammer and pull it out about a 1/4". Then it wouldn't budge, so I grabbed some vice grips and was able to work it out from there.

The second one I couldn't get no matter what I tried so I went with your recommendations and grabbed SpeedOut (damaged screw extractor) for $20. It took all of 10 seconds to get that puppy out. I never knew those tools existed... amazing!

Thanks guys.

Post: What Type of Screw is This?

Scott J.Posted
  • San Juan Capistrano, CA
  • Posts 114
  • Votes 34

You guys are awesome! I'll give these ideas a try tonight. Thanks.

Post: What Type of Screw is This?

Scott J.Posted
  • San Juan Capistrano, CA
  • Posts 114
  • Votes 34

I have a 90 year old house and am removing a large Murphy bed that is attached to the plaster wall. Toward the ceiling, these screws are securing the bed frame to the wall. The head of them is perfectly round, so I can't figure out how to remove them.

Do I just remove them like a nail? They are not threaded.

Just being cautious here because the old plaster will crumble if I get sloppy with the removal.

Thanks!

I'll go against the grain here and share my opinion, although I'm less experienced than most on this board and only have a couple buy & hold properties.

Obviously HOAs eat into cashflow and hurt your bottom dollar. But I wouldn't avoid all HOAs like the plague. I bought a property in Southern CA about 18 months ago for $310k with a $75 HOA. It covers the (very minimal) landscaping, trash, etc. All of the houses in the community are identical and the neighbor of my rental just sold for $370k.

I like this HOA because it is very cheap and they keep the community looking immaculate. I live about 45 minutes away so I like the feeling of them keeping the community looking nice.

So while I certainly don't prefer HOAs, and if I did buy one it would have to be a low monthly expense. But I wouldn't avoid 100% of properties that have them because there are some gems out there.

@Jon Holdman - That's been my dream for years. They do own it free and clear too. The guy spent $50k building it and buying the land back in the 50s and now it's probably worth $1M, at least that's what I would hope to pay.

About once a year I mention to the owner that if they ever want to sell I'd love a first crack at an offer. But I get the feeling they really want to pass it on to their kids. Although perhaps it's just the big tax hit they don't want. Your suggestion of offering owner financing is a good one. The best I could do is 10% down, which may or may not cut the mustard. I'm really not well-versed on owner financing.

When I call the owner today I'll ignore the tree thing (what good would it do anyway?) and mention that if they ever want to sell I would be happy to buy it and if they financed it they would avoid the tax hit and could secure long-term income to their children without passing along a headache. Are there any other benefits to them I can mention regarding seller financing?

@Jon Holdman - Funny you mention buying it, we would LOVE to buy this property. The owner is an elderly woman whose husband is on his death bed, it's clear they want their closing years to be in peace so they let their tenants basically do whatever they want. Can't really blame them I guess.

The rents are about 20% too low and they have atrocious tenants, all of which spells opportunity for a new owner.

About the tree: The city doesn't have any rules against it since it's not on or over public land. I think I'll call the owner and chat about it a bit, but at this point I am pretty resigned to my fate. Thanks for all the help guys.

My neighbor has a 100 year old avocado tree and about 50% of it hangs over my property. We love this tree. It adds beautiful curb appeal to our house, shades our living room windows (we are in a hot climate), and adds a lot of charm to the property.

I live in a house and am the owner. My neighbor is a 4-plex. One of the tenants had a kid recently and complained about the risk of avocados falling and hitting her kid. This really bugs me since the tree was there forever, including when she signed the lease. The owner of the property is about 80 years old and a total sweetheart. This tenant has aggressively pursued the owner about cutting the tree and the owner caved in (despite my gentle protests).

Tree trimmers are coming in a few days. The owner told me they'll just "scale the branches back", while the tenant told me "they're cutting it WAY back and if an avocado hits my kid I'll sue her".

I love this tree and want it to stay. I have and will live here for years while tenants come and go. On top of that, if they trim it a lot the tree may be lopsided and damage my property if it falls. (This has happened to me before, with a different avocado tree actually.)

1. Is there anything I can do about this?

2. Do they need permission from the city to cut a 100 year old tree that is solely on their property (not on street)?

3. What would you do?

Thank you.

Post: Water Seeping From Floor

Scott J.Posted
  • San Juan Capistrano, CA
  • Posts 114
  • Votes 34

Just talked to the wife and there is a window in that part of the house. I didn't see any water on the wall, but suppose it could have came in on the interior of the wall. My gut still tells me it came in at floor level but don't really know.

Post: Water Seeping From Floor

Scott J.Posted
  • San Juan Capistrano, CA
  • Posts 114
  • Votes 34

Thanks for the replies everyone. Wow, I love this website.

A little more background info: This house is in a community where every house is identical. The side yard is 100% concrete and there's maybe only 15 feet between houses. So that limits our techniques of diverting water... although fixing the gutters may do the trick.

I didn't check if there's a window at the point of entry, but certainly will later. Thanks for that suggestion. Although there was clearly a small crack at the exterior wall where the stucco meets the cement at the ground.

Since rains like this are so rare (like, once every 10 years), is there some sort of caulking I could apply to the crack to seal it?

I don't mind spending the money to do the job right and not get nervous whenever it rains, but always welcome a simple fix too :)

Post: Water Seeping From Floor

Scott J.Posted
  • San Juan Capistrano, CA
  • Posts 114
  • Votes 34

Out here in Southern California we just had a very unusual 4 days of rain and a renter called me and said their carpet was wet and they couldn't find the source.

Luckily it was in the corner of the house and the wet spot was only about 1' x 1'. After pulling up the carpet and removing the soaked pads, it was clear the water leaked in from outside. The pads I threw away held all the moisture, but I still Shop-Vacced the carpet and left a fan there for them to run for a few days.

We just bought this place in 2012 and have had this same tenant the whole time. They said there were sandbags stacked against the wall there on the outside so the previous owners definitely knew. Didn't show up in our inspection though.

1. What type of professional do I call to seal the exterior wall (plumber, etc.)? This one really stumps me.

2. Is replacing the carpet pad something that I can do? Seems easy enough.

3. Do I basically just pay for it if it's less than my insurance deductible and if it's over than run it through them?

Thanks!