Los Angeles fear of Refrigerators (real estate, rental, lawyer)

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by winoceros

So every apartment?

Why would one want to haul around such a huge, heavy appliance that can be relatively easily cleaned? It makes no sense.

Never said I would "haul" the refrigerator around.

Refrigerators can be bought and sold - liquidating assets is a good method to lighten moving and storage loads and expenses.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by CALGUY

Regarding stoves, I also do not supply them in my units, but when a tenant moves in, I and only I do the gas hookup.
I would never leave that to a tenant to do.
Bob.

I always hire licensed plumbers to do gas work on my rentals because of insurance reasons.

[CALGUY]

Originally Posted by Senshi

Wonder what else you're cheap with. Would hate to be in your building in an Earthquake! And yea, please give us a list of your properties so we can avoid them.

I couldn't let your post go by without a response.
Over the years, I have been told, not only by my tenants, but those who are associated with my business, that I am one of the best landlords in the entire city.
The reasons this may be so are below:
My rents are lower than market value by choice, that being, it is not a quest to make bundles of money,but rather to give people a break when renting.
My buildings are ALWAYS maintained in 100% condition.
I NEVER raise the rent.
I don't care if a tenant stays 20 years, they will not be paying a dime more than they did, the day they moved in.
Over the years I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars in capital improvements on the properties, and not asked one tenant to give any kind of reimbursement.
Legally I am entitled to collect a percentage of the capital improvements, but I have never felt the want, or need to do that.
My properties are located in sought after communities.
ALL my properties are kept in immaculate condition.
The picture below is one of my properties in the northeast section of the city, and is representative of all my properties.
The face that I choose to not supply stoves and refrigerators is nothing more than a sound business practice.
Over the years, my not increasing the rents has proven to be another sound business practice.

Bob.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by CALGUY

I couldn't let your post go by without a response.
Over the years, I have been told, not only by my tenants, but those who are associated with my business, that I am one of the best landlords in the entire city.
The reasons this may be so are below:
My rents are lower than market value by choice, that being, it is not a quest to make bundles of money,but rather to give people a break when renting.
My buildings are ALWAYS maintained in 100% condition.
I NEVER raise the rent.
I don't care if a tenant stays 20 years, they will not be paying a dime more than they did, the day they moved in.
Over the years I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars in capital improvements on the properties, and not asked one tenant to give any kind of reimbursement.
Legally I am entitled to collect a percentage of the capital improvements, but I have never felt the want, or need to do that.
My properties are located in sought after communities.
ALL my properties are kept in immaculate condition.
The picture below is one of my properties in the northeast section of the city, and is representative of all my properties.
The face that I choose to not supply stoves and refrigerators is nothing more than a sound business practice.
Over the years, my not increasing the rents has proven to be another sound business practice.

Bob.

Well in that case, give us a list so we can check them out

[CALGUY]

Giving out a list on a public forum is not what I would call good business ethics.
A private message request is more in line with what I would consider a minimal security risk.
There is no telling who is online and what they are capable of.
Presently all my units are rented, but people's situations change, and one never knows when a vacancy will come up.
Bob.

[timtemtym]

Originally Posted by Harrier

It never occurred to me that an apartment should come with a refrigerator until I came across this thread. A refrigerator should be an appliance that one owns - unless they want to rent one independent of the apartment lease. Thanks for the heads up - if I ever am renting outside California - I will be sure to avoid any apartment where a refrigerator comes standard.

Hah! Then you will not be renting outside metro LA because It's a standard feature almost everywhere you go. I've lived in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans and Dallas and never come across a rental place without one. My friends in NY, Chicago, other areas across the country report the same situation. It's pretty much a California thing to do. I just found it an oddity and decided I'd post about it.

Most of my world thinks it's odd and even odder that people from LA think it's gross to get one with your place.

I'm sure there's something you think is perfectly normal that other people would be disgusted with.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Harrier

It never occurred to me that an apartment should come with a refrigerator until I came across this thread. A refrigerator should be an appliance that one owns - unless they want to rent one independent of the apartment lease. Thanks for the heads up - if I ever am renting outside California - I will be sure to avoid any apartment where a refrigerator comes standard.

I've rented in Washington state and Colorado, and every apartment or house I've rented in those states came with a fridge, standard.

I also rented an (fridgeless) apartment in Southern CA, was there for six months, and never got around to getting a fridge. The idea of wheeling one up the stairs didn't appeal to me too much (I was a lazy 20 year old), so I just ate out all the time (not too lazy to drive though ).

[jen5276]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

Hah! Then you will not be renting outside metro LA because It's a standard feature almost everywhere you go. I've lived in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans and Dallas and never come across a rental place without one. My friends in NY, Chicago, other areas across the country report the same situation. It's pretty much a California thing to do. I just found it an oddity and decided I'd post about it.

Most of my world thinks it's odd and even odder that people from LA think it's gross to get one with your place.

I'm sure there's something you think is perfectly normal that other people would be disgusted with.

I agree with you! I am in NYC and most apartments come with a fridge. I would never rent an apartment that didn't come with one. My current apartment came with a fridge, dishwasher, microwave, ceiling fans and air conditioners.

It is very strange that a lot of apartments in CA don't do this. Landlords can be so cheap.

[jen5276]

Originally Posted by Senshi

Amusingly enough, every apartment I looked at in Hollywood had a fridge.

But I have had friends who had to buy a fridge for their apartments. Honestly, if a landlord is gonna be cheap with the fridge it concerns me that they are going to be cheap with other things. It makes the landlord look shady if they don't provide something like that and basically makes me NOT want to rent from them.

I agree, it's a bad sign. I had a friend rent an apartment without a fridge in NYC and the landlord turned out to be a horror. Cheap is an understatement. He barely gave her any heat in the dead of the winter, so she had to buy a heater which ran her electric bill way up. Smh.

[TurcoLoco]

I think CalGuy might be an exception. If the place doesn't have the fridge than there has to be something insanely great about the place for me to even re-consider but so far, nothing. If you search a bit more, you can always find a place in a suitable location with the appliances needed.
I do not care to rent a fridge, buy used/new and end up carrying it each time I move nor am I rich or stupid enough to donate a 1-2 year old fridge to charity then buy another one!

I think if enough prospective renters get turned off with the lack of certain appliances, a smart landlord/management will make a note of it and perhaps wise up to change their policies if they are not renting fast enough.

My current place had the washer/dryer hook-ups, had them even provide me one of each, used but in good working condition. Save me the trip to the laundromat and I can do it at home at my own leisure and safely while doing other stuff in between. There was newish fridge/stove too. Not a big fridge but for a single guy it does the job plenty. One other thing I needed was ceiling fans, especially one in the bedroom, the place has one in the living room too which offsets the lack of AC.

There are ton of places to choose from, if a place I seem to like lacked any of the things I was looking for, I don't stress, continue my search. There is always a new place I find even better than the last.
If you are not in a rush, it pays off to take your time and look.