All Forum Posts by: Tia Jones

The City of Los Angeles recently passed Ordinance 183893, which requires the retrofit of pre-1978 wood-frame soft-story buildings and non-ductile concrete buildings. The goal of the mandatory retrofit programs, under the ordinance, is to reduce structural deficiencies and improve the performance of these buildings during earthquakes. Without proper strengthening, these vulnerable buildings may be subjected to structural failure during and/or after an earthquake. Buildings that are most vulnerable have been identified with the following criteria: •Consist of 2 or more stories wood frame construction. •Built under building code standards enacted before January 1, 1978. •Contains ground floor parking or other similar open floor space. I've heard multi-family dwelling properties up to eight units, the average construction cost was $63,500. Owners of 9-18 unit buildings paid an average of construction cost of $76,875. Has anyone done the soft Story retro fit or received a quote? What size is the building? What was the cost?

Originally posted by @Joe Xie:

Tia Jones very good suggestion. Where should I get such information?

If you are in San Jose check out this webpage http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=1355

Make yourself aware of the rent increase laws in that county. How often can you increase the rent? How much can you increase the rent? Also, find out if their are any fees associated with rent control such as the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) fee, which you may be able pass on to your tenants to pay each year.