Strange Rental Ad in Sunnyvale 94085

[Tomahawk1234]

Someone recommended Google Earth to see a 3D imagery of this address. Another excellent resource!

In the description of this $3000 per month Sunnyvale rental, the owner provides the following information:

Ceiling fans in all rooms;
Central heating;
Crown moldings throughout updated house;
Stainless steel appliances;
Eat-in kitchen facing French doors to spacious fenced-in back yard for alfresco dining, shaded lounging with fruit-trees, raised garden-bed.
Includes Washer, Dryer, Dishwasher, Garbage Disposal.
Spacious master;
Tub-in-shower;
Quiet tree-lined side street;
Freshly painted with NO VOC paint.

Here's the imagery from Google Earth:


One can see a 3 dimensional image of this property's backyard and I noticed its very brown and gray, not a hue of green lawn (except for the trees) and looks like more junk along the property line fencing.
So basically, in the Eat-In kitchen facing the backyard, the owner wants you to see "shaded lounging" of dirt and "raised garden-bed" of dirt!
Yeah, pay me $3000 a month rent to live in dirt!

Urghhh!

[Tomahawk1234]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

But yeah, s/he trashed the property.

Completely agree!

[echo7tango]

Caveat emptor.

Or, caveat renter!

[Tomahawk1234]

Originally Posted by echo7tango

Great suggestion!

You guys got me curious. I drive within 2-3 miles of this home almost weekly. I’ll cruise by and take a look, but from street view the place looks like a dump.

108 Walnut Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085; gMap link https://goo.gl/RfZq6N

Were you able to drive by and see the property?
Snap a pic of the exterior if you can.
Public records show the owner is named Lee Fong (that must have been the person who emailed to 'interview' me when all I asked was to see more pictures of her rental property) and another resident named Jeff Soos.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Tomahawk1234

Someone recommended Google Earth to see a 3D imagery of this address. Another excellent resource!

In the description of this $3000 per month Sunnyvale rental, the owner provides the following information:

Ceiling fans in all rooms;
Central heating;
Crown moldings throughout updated house;
Stainless steel appliances;
Eat-in kitchen facing French doors to spacious fenced-in back yard for alfresco dining, shaded lounging with fruit-trees, raised garden-bed.
Includes Washer, Dryer, Dishwasher, Garbage Disposal.
Spacious master;
Tub-in-shower;
Quiet tree-lined side street;
Freshly painted with NO VOC paint.

Here's the imagery from Google Earth:


One can see a 3 dimensional image of this property's backyard and I noticed its very brown and gray, not a hue of green lawn (except for the trees) and looks like more junk along the property line fencing.
So basically, in the Eat-In kitchen facing the backyard, the owner wants you to see "shaded lounging" of dirt and "raised garden-bed" of dirt!
Yeah, pay me $3000 a month rent to live in dirt!

Urghhh!

Um....great for urban farmers? Veggie garden? Do-it-yourself?

[echo7tango]

I finally got over there today. I snapped 4 pics of the front from slightly different angles.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by echo7tango

I finally got over there today. I snapped 4 pics of the front from slightly different angles.

Thanks for following up! Very entertaining thread, lol. The place sure looks different from that RE photo from back when the place sold to the current owner. Way to protect your investment, lady!

I guess maybe they had to take out the lawn, due to the drought? Was there a lot of that going on, back then? Sad, that the owner allowed the place to decline. And now she (he?) wants to use it for a rental? Good luck with that.

Good work, echo7!

[Tomahawk1234]

Originally Posted by echo7tango

I finally got over there today. I snapped 4 pics of the front from slightly different angles.

Excellent pics thanks Echo7.
Is it me or does this house look abandoned now?
Maybe its the sunset that's creating this ominous and eerie vibe.
Such loom and gloom. Really dull and depressing.
And the weeds are slowly taking over.



Property value in this zip code neighborhood can be up in the millions but this house is just .... blah.
Way to go Ms. Lee F. Lee and Mr. Jeffrey Soos to depreciate your house and devalue the neighborhood.
IMO, you should lower your rental fee to anyone willing to rent your place and basically clean, tidy and mow.
Just decluttering the front of the house would improve your house and neighborhood.
And pay extra if the renter decides to tackle what's inside that garage (must be a hoarder's paradise).

I just checked Google Maps and they have the latest street view.
Even when its sunny out, this place is still just ..... urghhh!
December 2017


I'm still beside myself.
Asking $3000 per month rent for this place.

[Ruth4Truth]

The images of the front yard aren't at all consistent. Remember when it had something that looked like raised planting beds in the front yard, surrounded by clutter? Then there was the "eerie" more recent one, with weeds on bare flat ground. Now look at the main dirt area in front, in the recent Google view: there's something that looks like a planter area outlined by some kind of stones or cement pieces. The Google angle makes the front yard look longer than it really is, too. It's well into springtime, and the front trees haven't leafed out? Is no one watering the trees?

I see what you mean; they couldn't get a renter, with their weird requirements, so the place is abandoned and going to seed. Definitely LL's with issues. Looks like you dodged a bullet, OP.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Rolltidemom

Oh wow, I know this couple. They are the messy black sheep in our family circle, the clutter couple.
The owner, Lee Fong is a CPA by profession, she and Jeff have been the gossip among our family.
Poor Jeffrey, he is the introverted one in our family, the two of them have been together for about 10 years.

If you thought the front yard was an eye sore, the back yard is a complete mess and that garage, whew!
One talking joke among us is, you know you are at Lee Fong's home is if you mowed her lawn, you will find a car.
This is why there is no lawn in the front yard.
Lee Fong does not mow lawns and she is too cheap to hire a service, so neighborhood complaints forced her to convert her front lawn to something that has no grass. For years, I was told she fantasize building some spectacular desert garden but she never gets around to achieving it. She is all talk.

Lee Fong is a HOARDER and basically she corrupted our Jeff.
She has an illness and mentally she thinks her hoarded mess is "normal" and has the "comforts of home".
She loves Craigslist "Free Stuff" and ventures out to stranger's home to accumulate more junk. Such a sad creature.
I haven't been inside their house but from what I have heard, it was a mess before the 2 first started dating 10 years ago.
And from the family gossip, the mess hasn't improved, but gotten worst.
Their garage, from floor to ceiling, is a hoarder's paradise.
That's why the accumulation spilled out to the front porch.
Like all hoarders, the two keeps to themselves and they never socialize or have company over because their house is an embarrassment.
There is no clean nor clear surface anywhere inside their house, not even the floors.
Those pictures she advertised for rental early this year is evident that she is a mess.
Its an embarrassment but she refuses to get any psychological help.

I am not sure the level and degree of their mess today but I am incline to say they are a good candidate for the show:
Hoarders or Hoarding: Buried Alive.

Some years ago, someone told me that Lee Fong and Jeff visited them and Lee Fong made a comment about their kitchen counter.
This someone keep her kitchen clean and tidy, her counter surface was almost bare.
The reaction Lee Fong made was complete shock.
A bare counter was so foreign to Lee, she felt and commented how sterile it was and lacks all comforts of home.
It was a complete insult to this person having knowledge how Lee Fong lives her life and surrounds herself with massive clutter.

Lee Fong is Asian and she is from the east coast (Pennsylvania).
From what was told to me, she is estranged from many people in her own family. No surprise.
And she moved to California to purposefully remove any obligations she feels to take care of her aging parent (I think her mother).
After watching several episodes of Buried Alive, Lee Fong's hoarding may not be cultural in origin but her behavior certainly comes from her upbringing.

Lee Fong, you need to admit you have a problem and please go get psychological help!
And Jeff, <sigh>.

OK, so why was the place advertised as available for rent? That's the mystery. When the OP called to ask to see it, he was told it's not ready yet, or some such. So, you're saying a couple actually lives there? Strange.