All Forum Posts by: William Arrington

 Isnt happening yet.  Banks are starting to fail confidence testing.  Warren buffet sells wells fargo may of last year and states the amount of fraud he saw made him do it??? he is in meetings we could only dream of as investors.  The job market is still solid but there are alot of zombie companies out there and the bank that funded them is one that is collapsing.  Hope for the best... plan for the worst.  Not worried yet about a repeat but things are lining up for it.  

If your in california then you might be screwed.  Does your lease specifically say they cannot sublet?  I cant beleive this is a thing some places.. but heres what I found... iam not a lawyer though so take it with a grain of salt.  

When it comes to subletting a rental unit in California, what the lease says goes. Tenants can legally sublease their unit unless the landlord specifically says they can’t in the lease—and even then, depending on where they live, they may have some leeway. Some California cities, like San Francisco, are more permissive when it comes to subletting. But no matter where they are in the state, landlords have the right to be selective in who they allow subletting a unit (as long as their requirements are reasonable).

San Francisco almost always permits subletting

San Francisco is one city in California that is a lot more lenient when it comes to subletting. Even if subleases aren’t allowed in the lease agreement, the city typically allows tenants to replace or add more roommates as a way to keep rent costs manageable. Tenants must ask their landlord for permission to do this in writing. The landlord has 14 days after receiving the letter to accept or deny the proposed subtenant.4 A landlord who denies a proposed subtenant must have reasonable justifications for doing so and provide those reasons in a letter to the tenant.

For leases in San Francisco that don’t include any clause on subletting, tenants don’t have to get landlord approval before having a subtenant move in. However, they can’t have more people living in the unit than are allowed by the lease. Landlords also can’t prevent the child of a current tenant from moving into a unit, as long as they’re under 18 years old.

 When I went back to school and took economics they teach this.  Basically it stops future growth of housing, dramatically increases rents because owners know they will not be able to raise rents with cost of living and stops owners from doing anything than the bare minimum the law requires in upkeep.  Horrible price ceiling

It comes down to this.  Do you want a disgruntled neighbor?  Are the repairs less than lawyer fees if they sue you?  I would have sent in servpro to do mold remediation and then put new baseboard up for them.  Its probably easier and cheaper in the long run.  Imagine if that neighbor decided to make life hard for you... your out of state.

We are in a lag right now.  Interest rates went up very quickly and prices have just started to adjust but I also don't think its going to move as much as people think.  As prices drop a little you will see rates come down a little which will fight the downward trend. I would imagine you need to find a slightly run-down property that has value add potential during the reno.  

It depends on what you want. I would put in an LLC or the like depending on your goals then pull money out for a down payment on another unit... then rinse and repeat. You have a unique opportunity and can afford a property manager.

Just curious about repairs/upgrades needed on the property.  4 plex's are cool because you can fix it up 1 unit at a time with vacancies and still get rents.  Would love to have a more detailed journey story.  

 The cost of repairs should slowly go down.  It was basic supply and demand and demand was outpacing the supply of contractors.  They all started asking for more because they could get it.  One project I was thinking about had a 6 month lead time for the earliest contractor.  Now people are holding back on projects and the price of wood is returning to normal.  You might be surprised with the things that you and your partner ( not sure how to address the "we" in your statement) can accomplish yourself.  I recently replaced a bathroom vanity going from a single sink to a double which means opening the wall and cutting studs to route a vent loop for the second sink.  It took a while but it wasnt actually difficult. 

I am in the area and would love to connect. I am currently in the STR arena but I am always looking for new opportunities. The STR market is pretty saturated where I bought my 2 so I am holding off on any more there. Who knows.