California Targets Private Property With Latest Water Well Fees, Charges: Report

[SPYDERLK]

One could get rich selling dehydrated water in large tankers.

Yeah, I wonder that there arent collection sites where it is conveniently available all over the deserts.

 

[Raul-02]

Yeah, I wonder that there arent collection sites where it is conveniently available all over the deserts.

Lets pool our retirement funds and make a killing~!!!
We'll be Bozillionairres~!!

 

[Molalla1]

Another reason I never became a landlord.... watching my grandparents deal with weirdos, thieves, abused/abusive couples, and the occasional nice old lady that would die in the apartment after 12 years of no problems.

Moss, it is not like that everywhere . . . I have renters 20 plus years . . .

 

[California]

Moss, it is not like that everywhere . . . I have renters 20 plus years . . .

After I started my MBA (paid by the rentals!) and got a larger sense of doing market research I realized the massive new construction of rentals nearby was causing my tenants to move on in an average turnover of 8 months!!! And many times the unit needed repainting before it looked respectable again to rent to the next tenant. That frequent renovation was one of the reasons I decided landlording wasn't worth it for me despite being profitable.

Painting a living room using a 6 ft handle roller and a 5 gallon paint bucket takers just minutes. I got pretty good at it.

 

[Molalla1]

After I started my MBA (paid by the rentals!) and got a larger sense of doing market research I realized the massive new construction of rentals nearby was causing my tenants to move on in an average turnover of 8 months!!! And many times the unit needed repainting before it looked respectable again to rent to the next tenant. That frequent renovation was one of the reasons I decided landlording wasn't worth it for me despite being profitable.

Painting a living room using a 6 ft handle roller and a 5 gallon paint bucket takers just minutes. I got pretty good at it.

I have a couple shall we say unusual residential situations, which I am thankful every month for . . . the others are commercial, .

 

[California]

I have a couple shall we say unusual residential situations ...

Like what I experienced, after I had listed the 5-unit property for sale? The long term tenant in the large unit went flaky. I stopped by and without giving notice, he was having a move-out yard sale including selling my drapes etc.

I immediately listed it for rent so income would be continuous. Lady told me she was an 'entertainer' at a nearby high class bar. I assumed singer. Went to collect rent her first month and the cutie who answered the door was in a negligee, classic Playboy Mansion look. As well as the cutie I could see behind her. Tenant came to the door and said these are her daughters. Whatever lady, I just want the rent, not 'in-kind payment'.

Next time I drove by in an evening, there was a row of motorcycles at the curb, likely a club.

As soon as it sold, the buyer asked me if I had realized what he just bought. ....



... Are your 'unusual situations' similar?

 

[MossRoad]

Moss, it is not like that everywhere . . . I have renters 20 plus years . . .

Yes, I realize that. We live in an area where houses do not increase in value very much (recent times excluded). For example, our home is valued at around $130K currently. Replacement cost for insurance is well over $250K now. Likewise all homes in our immediate area. A few years back, the town of South Bend had a 40% vacancy rate. Yep. 4 out of 10 houses were empty in a city of about 100K population. I had a coworker that had about 50 rental houses in town. It got so bad that he had to go to bi-weekly rental, so that he could evict more easily. The trend here was they'd pay first and last month's rents, move in, pay one month, then stop paying. Evictions took months to accomplish. And when they'd finally move out, everything was damaged or stolen. So most of the rental houses are now owned by out of town corps. that do little to improve anything. Not a good area for investment.

So lets say I purchase a rental home for $50K. Rents around here go for around $800 per month. 12 x 800 = $9600 a year before expenses/taxes. Property taxes are 2% of assessed value. So there's - $1000. County taxes add to that, plus insurance. So I'd guess about $2K in taxes and insurance. So now I'm down to $7600 per year if I do nothing else to the house (not realistic). With no additional expenses, it's going to take me about 7 years to get my $50K back, and the house will still be worth just $50K (recent years excluded).

I can invest $50K and double it every 7 years in the stock market (average for us, and again, recent years excluded), and not have to deal with renters, additional expenses, etc.

I'll take the little bit less income VS the hassles of renters.

Had I had a crystal ball, I'd have bought my grandparents' cottage for $42K in 1977 and sold it 20 years later for $400K. However, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyhow, I'm not complaining. Our investments have done very well for us over the years and knock on wood, we haven't had any catastrophic health issues, and have had steady employment. So life is good.

 

[MossRoad]

After I started my MBA (paid by the rentals!) and got a larger sense of doing market research I realized the massive new construction of rentals nearby was causing my tenants to move on in an average turnover of 8 months!!! And many times the unit needed repainting before it looked respectable again to rent to the next tenant. That frequent renovation was one of the reasons I decided landlording wasn't worth it for me despite being profitable.

Painting a living room using a 6 ft handle roller and a 5 gallon paint bucket takers just minutes. I got pretty good at it.

Yep. I'm one of the few that actually enjoys interior and exterior house painting. I have a paint stick for inside (sucks the paint up into the handle). Maybe 10 trips to the bucket for an entire room. And a small sprayer for exterior. It takes longer to clean the sprayer than it does to spay the side of a house.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a friend that tried to get into the rental market. He's about 20 years younger than I am. He bought a decent house for about $18K. Fixed it up with the intention of renting it out until it got paid for then moving into it. The renters did the first/last month deposit, paid one or two month's rent, then stopped paying. It took 3 months to get them evicted. He got into the house and they had taken a hammer to every plaster wall, every porcelain fixture, every appliance surface, every piece of woodwork, and poured cement into every drain and the toilet. He sold it to an out of town corp at a loss and got out of that dream pretty quick.

 

[Eagle1]

Pretty much how it goes around here. I had several but now have none. One became a shed on the property, the rest are demo projects, might use one as a chicken coop. Not worth fixing.