patrick.net

Can she do that on a whim?

I would decline but tell her you'll be paying $3100 while you look for a new place. Less than a month is impossible.

and if she gives you crap, I would stop paying any rent, and fight her in court with hardship stories, while I saved my money. I don't know about California but you can stop paying rent and it as long as you show up at all of the eviction hearings, the judge will side with the tenant, for up to 3 to 6 months. I know people that took a year to get a family of Gypsy's out of his rental.

The down side to that will be, if you want to use the money you save by not paying rent as a dp for a house, the bank will want to see you last three months canceled rent checks.

Renting, just like buying is not something that has a black and white answer. Not all landlords are automatically going to raise rent. We pay a lot less than you do now for a bigger house in the East Bay and the landlord has yet to raise the rent in over 8 years. I'm sure there are others like this out there.

While this has been brought up several times, have you given thought to locating out of state? We're basically renting to save to do this someday. Decent houses in most other states are 150,000... not 500k.

Pay someone to pack and move you to a new better rental if you can find one that is equivalent. Those costs will be less than closing costs and future realtor fees to buy and sell a home. Just as a side note: we sold our house in la before the house to street Plumbing went. Our next door neighbors were not so lucky. They paid close to $20,000 for this required by the city. All the old plumbing in la is going bad. And la is pushing the charges onto the homeowners. Is your area older? Our house 1923.

edvard2 says

Decent houses in most other states are 150,000... not 500k.

Well, that's not really true. Housing is more expensive in CA., no doubt. And there are places where you can get a nice house in a nice area for $150K, but mostly in rural areas. If you're OK with that, then you'll do fine. But don't expect to find that near most larger cities.

Man! you must live in a nice place! Call Her bluff,.. tell her good luck with that one. at least scare the crap out of her for a few days. go shop for a new place. moving sucks. I thought Oakland Had rent control? she might not be able to raise the rent that much that fast maybe?

Jeez, what a meanie! I would never do that to one of our tenants. Where's the humanity? Oh yeah, she's also a Realturd. But seriously, that ain't right.

I feel bad for your kids. being uprooted in those years can be tough since I imagine he has friends in the area by now.

unfortunately I dont think you can fight the rent hike because it sounds like if she doesnt get the higher rent she'll just sell and you're out anyway.

tatupu70 says

Well, that's not really true. Housing is more expensive in CA., no doubt. And there are places where you can get a nice house in a nice area for $150K, but mostly in rural areas. If you're OK with that, then you'll do fine. But don't expect to find that near most larger cities.

I can pull up 150k houses all day long withing the metro areas of Nashville, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Raleigh, and a ton of other places. But let me give a comparison. My parents live in NC. They live about 15-20 minutes from a medium sized city. They own a 2 story house on 14 acres of land, a pool, a greenhouse, an apple orchard, and large workshop. Grand total value of the property now is $175,000. Somehow I think that sounds like a pretty decent deal all considered. I guess that's why I view most real estate in coastal metros as a huge rip-off.

edvard2 says

I can pull up 150k houses all day long withing the metro areas of Nashville, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Raleigh, and a ton of other places.

Sure. I can probably do the same in LA. Is it a place you want to live in, though?

edvard2 says

My parents live in NC. They live about 15-20 minutes from a medium sized city. They own a 2 story house on 14 acres of land, a pool, a greenhouse, an apple orchard, and large workshop. Grand total value of the property now is $175,000.

Yep-I believe it. Sounds like a more rural area. And probably a nice place to live.

I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't find such a place. Just that most nicer areas cost more than $150K.