All Forum Posts by: Terence J.

There is a bill currently in the state legislature to end the Costa-Hawkins act.   For those not aware Costa-Hawkins affords certain protections to property owners in California.  The most important are:

1) No rent control on buildings built after 1995.

2) No rent control on single family properties.

3) Ability to reset rent to market rate after a rent controlled tenant moves out voluntarily.

The bill being considered AB 1506 (Bloom) is drafted to revoke these protections. The stated goal is to make housing more affordable.  My feeling is this misses the mark entirely as the only thing that will make housing more affordable is more supply and this is a huge disincentive to build new housing. It also is being passed at the expense of rental property owners.

If you do not want Costa-Hawkins act protections revoked call your state Assembly Member where you live or own property.  I am listing the local ones to me below.  All you need to say is the bill AB 1506 (Bloom) and that you want them to vote no.  They will not ask you why you are opposed.

Call BEFORE March 14th.

Thanks,

Terence

I don't know what the market is like in your area but here it is hot.  At this point they have cost you quite a bit in repairs and time. How much earnest money do they have into it?  

If your market is remotely busy I would break this off now.  You have lived up on your end and they have not so I would be keeping the earnest money. If your market isn't that hot I would demand closing or ask for more earnest money if they want to extend.  At least that way you are getting paid if they ultimately do not close.

I would call a company who specializes in finding leaks.  Having a PM look around is not going to do it.  I've used American Leak Detectors before with good results.  Not sure if they are in your area but I'm sure you can find something similar.

You need to factor in vacancy rate and utilities as well.  When looking at deals I look a lot closer at the cash on cash return then I do the actual dollars.  This will tell me how well I'm doing vs. the return I could get on another property or elsewhere.  This is simply comparing the cash you have in the deal vs. what you have left after all expenses/set asides are done.

Bigger pockets has a calculator but you can make a spreadsheet fairly easily as well.

I like www.padmapper.com for looking at rents because you can click the map then see the actual ad it was pulled from.  It lets you see how your rental stacks up against the comparable in terms of amenities vs. just getting a number.  Sometimes the ads are expired but I've generally had good luck finding at least a few current ones in the area I'm looking.

I've used QuietRock in a number of units and it is nothing short of amazing in terms of sound reduction.  Before I did that I also tried putting cellulose insulation in the ceilings and that really did nothing.  Yes, the sheets itself are more expensive but the main cost is labor.  If you need to do ceiling work anyway the added cost of the material is well worth it.

I'm assuming you are talking to a bank directly.  If they won't work this out I would suggest calling a mortgage broker (who deals with many banks) and explaining the situation.  Often they will know which lender would be willing to lend with this type of situation.  

I would also explain the situation to the seller and make sure I get an extension on my contingencies while this is worked out.

My main concern would be what state is my property in.  Based on their track record of not communicating/doing things right how certain are you the repairs actually got done?  If they are done were they done correctly?

I'm questioning the assumption that there is $2,000 owed because no work may have in fact been performed.

I've never gone the handyman route and have only dealt with professional reglazers.  They do a much better job than I ever could and the time savings alone is worth it for me.  I've had many tubs professionally reglazed over the years in my rental units. All have looked great and lasted. My cost is generally under $400 to do the tub only and I'm in the SF bay area.  As a note you can also have shower tile reglazed which is a easy fix for chipped or dated tile.  Especially when the colors are 70s colors and considered ugly by todays standards.

Terence

I would seriously consider reglazing the tub.  This can be done in less than a day at a fraction of the cost of replacing the tub.  Fiberglass  can hairline crack and reglazing can address this.  

Here is a brief article on reglazing if you are not familiar with it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/realestate/30hom...