[Hatfield]

This is sorta Homeownership 101, I think there’s a couple factors Sir Mixxalot is overlooking:

1) What is your current effective income tax rate? Because for the first many years, your mortgage payment is almost all interest (deductible) and property taxes are also deductible. So if you’re currently paying a high % effective income tax rate, that % of interest and property tax are effectively subsidized for you.

2) How long do you plan to stay put? Because in ten years your rent will have increased, perhaps significantly, but your mortgage payment will stay the same, and your property tax will have increased only marginally.

That said, I think the current market is way overheated. Of course I’ve been saying that for a decade now, but I dunno, I don’t see how these valuations are sustainable longterm, so

3) Where is it that you really want to live? If that neighborhood is significantly cheaper to rent than buy, even factoring in (1) above, by all means, keep renting and socking your savings away.

[Hatfield]

It’s interesting timing given the apparent rapprochement with Iran.

[Hatfield]

I prefer talking on a landline not because of the sound quality, but because of the latency on cell phone connections. That little delay irritates me. I guess I’m too impatient to wait an extra 100 mSec.

[Hatfield]

[quote]I’d have a professional landscaper assess your particular situation [/quote]

No, not a landscaper. Call a certified arborist. Big difference in expertise here. I can recommend One Tripp Tree and also Ted Safford. I have a large euc that came with a property I bought in 94. It’s a magnificent tree and I have it laced about every 18-24 months. It’s expensive but I feel that it’s worth it. I agree that eucs can become a hazard if they’re not properly maintained, and that mostly means keeping the size of the crown under control so the roots can support the tree’s weight. You also want to make sure the euc is free of diseases that weaken the root structure. Both of these arborists will give you a free assessment and cost estimate.

The last thing you want to do is call some knucklehead with a chainsaw and let him top it. The tree will never be the same again.

Ted Safford: http://www.tedsaffordarborist.com
One Tripp Tree: http://www.onetripptreeservicesandiegoca.com

[Hatfield]

Yeah, we still have a landline but I pretty much use it exclusively for outgoing calls. Only my dad and a few other people call the land line. I get a lot of telemarketing calls but i never pick up unless I recognize the caller ID, and nobody ever leaves a message.

I’m on the do not call list, but that law is pretty much unenforceable.

For my business I use a Google voice number that rings through to my cell phone, and I do get occasional telemarketing calls to that line. I can see that they’re dialing the business number, not the cell number.

[Hatfield]

I don’t see it that way.

Landlords don’t like turnover. You don’t make money on turnovers, you lose money on turnover. And it’s much better to have a happy tenant than an unhappy one. Source: am a landlord.

As for “just move out,” why play that card now? Why not politely find out if the landlord is even aware there’s a problem? I find that 95% of the time, treating people respectfully will get you going in the right direction. And if speaking with the landlord doesn’t do any good, yeah, ok, maybe then looking for a new place makes sense, but why run off in a huff before the reasonable options are exhausted?

[Hatfield]

[quote=HLS]Some landlords prefer a tenant who is always late and pays late charges 😉
You are an ideal tenant only in your eyes….[/quote]
LOL, just like credit card companies.

I agree that it might make sense to try to contact the owner by pulling the property records and sending a letter to the address where the tax bills go. I would say something like: As you probably know, I’ve lived here for 7 years and I’m pretty happy living in this house, but I’m having X, Y, Z issues with the property manager. I’ve been unsuccessful, after many requests, to get the issues addressed or even acknowledged. I’m not sure whether you’re aware of these issues so i wanted to contact you directly. I am hoping we can get these resolved so I can keep living here.

If the landlord wanted you out, he’d probably just raise the rent, or not renew the lease. Really, if a landlord wants you to move along, there’s lots of subtle and not-so-subtle ways that will show. Based on what you’ve written, this sounds more like benign neglect. Property manager sucks, but landlord knows nothing because there’s no turnover and the checks keep coming.

[Hatfield]

Another reason to want to collect anonymously, which naturally California doesn’t allow, nor can a trust collect. Not that this would ever happen, but should I win, I think I would figure out which state where I could most quickly establish residency and also legally change my name, do an extreme makeover disguise, collect my lump sum winnings, and then re-establish in California.

[Hatfield]

[quote=TeCKis300]Any recommendations on resources to do credit checks?[/quote]

http://simplescreening.com

[Hatfield]

Buy the NOLO California Landlord’s book. I promise you it will be the best $30 you’ll spend on your rental unit. Comes with rental agreements, and very clear instructions on how to screen tenants and manage your property in accordance with the law: http://www.amazon.com/California-Landlords-Lawbook-Rights-Responsibilities/dp/1413320864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458174668&sr=1-1&keywords=california+landlord

And yes, have a list of plumbers, electricians, etc, so that if something happens you can get it fixed in a timely fashion. Stuff always seems to happen at the worst time. I had a tenant’s sink back up while they were cooking thanksgiving dinner for family.

My advise would be to charge on the high side, be very picky about choosing tenants, and never raise the rent on a good tenant. You do not make money on turnover.

[Hatfield]

Holy crap. I have no idea what any of you are talking about so I logged into My Verizon and apparently I have 170,000 points.

[Hatfield]

[quote=scaredyclassic]No. I meant that the Berlin Wall came down when it was time to come diwn, and not in response to any presidential wall chant.[/quote]

Yet you go to the Reagan Library and they have a section of it there, as if Reagan chopped it down himself with an axe. The other fun game to play at the Reagan Library is “try and find Jane Wyman.” I found exactly one reference to her. She’s all but been erased from history.

[Hatfield]

Thanks for all the replies.

Man that seems like an awful lot of work to squeeze out another 50-100 bucks a month.

[Hatfield]

I use TD/Ameritrade. Seems fine to me. I don’t often have to speak to customer service so I can’t really address that point, other than they’ve been fine the few times I’ve dealt with them. Everything I need to do I’ve been able to do via the website.

If you want to talk about bad customer service, way back in the day, Q used to use Alex Brown as their stock & espp administrator and those people were outright crooks. Before they had a web interface, you would have to phone in your order. There were several times when I called to place a market order, and it would get filled at the lowest price of the day, even though you could go back and see in the intraday that the lowest point occurred in the morning, before I placed my order.

[Hatfield]

Maybe your Audi should go out in a blaze of glory. https://www.24hoursoflemons.com

[Author]

Posts