Can you swap out the cabinet above the microwave for one that is 12" high? That would let you raise the microwave 6", which would help a lot. Or is it not feasible at this point?
Not going to bother with the microwave at this point. It is mounted to mfr requirements of min 18” above stove. I don’t have to live in that kitchen, I don’t have to sell that kitchen and I’m guessing anyone renting my studio isnt going to be fussy about a kitchen or else they would be renting a full sized house somewhere:)
In reality, your tenant will probably use the microwave far more often than the cooktop and may appreciate it being lower.
Turquoise tile and the bathroom are both lovely.
Tile looks great and the paint color pulls out the wave color. Love it
Love the shower and the floor. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
How long until you start renting the studio? Is the plan for a long term rental or airb&b kind of thing?
Wow, @coralbrook, I just love all the choices you’ve made! The studio is truly just gorgeous with all the amazing finishes that blend so nicely together! To do a job like this in our state, you’ve had to add more decimal points, truly! I’m truly in awe of the wonderful work you are able to do on so little money! Thanks for inspiring and entertaining all of us!
Hope the recent earthquake did not cause any troubles for you, CB.
The earthquakes epicenter was far away and the effect here was very minor, nothing that could cause any damage or breakage. We never felt the first one (although a friend in a highrise did notice it); the second larger quake caused a very minor tremor in our chairs and slight swaying of the vertical blinds. It did last about 20 seconds though. It was the first time we noticed any effect so now consider ourselves true Californians.
Well, my original plan was to do short term for July 4th weekend and SAn Diego Comic Con convention. These are high ticket rental periods in SAn Diego. Unfortunately, those dates came and went with slips in the schedule. Slips in the schedule were caused by the master bath tile guy being 2 weeks late getting started and painters being 2 weeks late.
Right now my target is trying to move back into the Main House by July 20th and then clean up the studio and put it up for rent. Maybe up for rent about August 8th. I already had one renter (with Mom) stop by to look at it. She is a nursing student, age 27, starting at University of San Diego. I explained to her over the phone that rent was $1900 and she needed to make sure it fit into her budget, but she came anyway. She tried to negotiate me down to $1700 but I’m not ready to drop the price yet because we haven’t tested the market.
I did do some research and found that studios in the southern part of Ocean Beach in apartment buildings with one parking space, community washer/dryer, no view, no private patio or balcony are renting for $1600/month. I need to balance against that pricing. The Ocean Beach neighborhood has pluses because you have walkability to everything, but minuses that parking is very limited, lots of noise, no privacy, no views. And a bit of homeless problem that has spread out into the residential neighborhood.
I agree that it’s way too early to drop the price. I think your rent sounds very reasonable!
After the move on July 20th, and then cleanup and final touches of studio, I have to make a critical decision whether to rent it furnished or unfurnished. I have some friends that are coming at the end of July and it’s a little tough to stick them back in the studio for their visit without even a chair to sit on:) I need to discuss with a couple of local rental agents on whether unfurnished limits my potential renter pool, or whether furnished is actually a hindrance because people want to bring their own furniture. My D is suggesting just putting in the murphy bed and some patio furniture.
When all of that is complete we start Phase 3 of four phases. Phase 3 is tear out the laundry room and small half bath and reconfigure all the walls and add in a full bath with shower and stack up the washer/dryer, move doors and windows.
Phase 4 is painting the exterior and fixing up all the landscaping. This is one of my critical problems because all of my sprinklers seem to be broken and we are going to have to dig them all out and get sprinklers completely working and re-aligned for the mature landscape. This is critical to get closer to my no maintenance goals.
Would it be easier to disconnect the old sprinkler system, unscrew the heads but leave everything else underground and just put in a new system designed for the mature landscaping?
The rental you’re asking seems VERY reasonable and I wouldn’t drop it yet either. I agree that a Murphy bed and patio furniture sounds like an easy compromise and can go as partly furnished.
Long post ahead:
Furnished might be good for students (younger ones) or corporate rentals, but most people should have their own furniture or buy it themselves. If they can swing almost $2k/month for rent, they can afford some stuff from IKEA. That’s not a capital item you should be spending money on IMO. Renters are generally pretty rough on things, you don’t want to get into having to replace furniture every few years because it got stained or a cat peed on it or a dog chewed it up.
As for renting: you need to approach this as a business. Here’s my rules:
Rule #1: An empty apartment is better than a bad tenant. I can’t emphasize this enough. Don’t ever succumb to renting to someone you aren’t 100% sure about because you just want to get it rented. It will be cheaper in the long run to keep it empty another month or two and find a quality tenant you are happy with.
Rule #2: No sad-sack stories need apply. When someone calls pleading with you because they are getting kicked out of their apartment tomorrow for reasons which they say aren’t their fault and need a place right away, etc etc etc, just say no. Their drama is their not your problem, but if you rent to them it will become your problem. If you are ever tempted because you feel sorry for someone… see rule #1.
Rule #3: Have a process for evaluating a prospective tenant: How will you evaluate their credit (there are services you can use…)? What is the minimum credit score you will accept? Are you going to rent to someone with no SSN or tax id (i.e., someone not legally in the country)? Are you going to set income limits (i.e., the rent can’t exceed a certain percentage of their income)? Will you rent to students? Are you going to verify employment? Are you going to contact previous landlords (at least two back) to make sure there were no issues? Check for previous evictions? It’s actually legally prudent to have these policies written down. What is your pet policy? Be aware there are certain dog breeds which will cause some insurance companies to deny claims or cancel your insurance. Be wary of people who offer to pay cash as soon as they see the place, there’s a reason they don’t want their credit checked.
Rule #4: Set up a process to follow for running the rental: Year-long leases or tenant at will? Do you have an application for tenants to fill out? Do you have leases that are 100% legal? Have you added clauses to your lease to protect yourself and your own comfort such as long term guest policies, noise restrictions (no vacuuming/musical instruments/laundry/loud tv etc during quiet hours), etc? What will be your policies towards parking and use of the grounds (for example, no car maintenance to be performed on site, no motorcycles or motor homes or boats, no unregistered vehicles, only one car, etc)? Are you familiar with the Fair Housing laws and other state laws such as lead paint disclosure forms that need to be filled out? Will you pay a commission to agents to find tenants for you?
Rule #5: Take the maximum money up-front you are legally allowed - first month, last month, security deposit of a month rent in my state. CA may be different. If they are so paycheck-to-paycheck they can’t save up a few dollars, there will be issues paying the rent down the road guaranteed.
Rule #6: (I will probably take heat for this) Be very wary of renting to single mothers. Check them out thoroughly. It’s fairly common for the baby daddy to quickly move in after the fact, and then you discover there’s a reason they weren’t trying to rent as a couple. At that point it is hard to do anything about it. Ask ahead of time where the father is and if he is involved. Make it clear no one else can move in.
Rule #7: Think carefully before advertising on craigslist. It is full of scammers and fraudsters. It’s better to avoid it completely, IMO.
Rule #8: Tenants are not your friend(s). Resist the temptation to get overly friendly with them, keep it as a business relationship. It makes it much easier if trouble comes and you need to enforce a lease provision. Make it clear paying the rent is their most important financial obligation and you will not accept excuses like “I had to get my car fixed, can I just catch up next month”?
Rule #9: If the rent is more than a few days late, service notice, this teaches the tenant you cannot be pushed around. Especially if they are new tenants and haven’t built up any trust yet.
There’s probably a few other rules if I think about it, but that’s a good start. 
And if you haven’t already, call your insurance company and tell them your plans, you may need to beef up your insurance or add some stuff related to rentals. Especially beef up your liability insurance, I have a nice six-year horror story about that. 
Also decide what you want to do about pool—will tenants have any access and what are rules about use?
Agree having everything in writing is very important!
Excellent advice from NRE. You probably already know this… CA is very pro-tenant. Protect yourself to the maximum allowed… and preemptively eliminate as many risks as possible before a tenant moves in.
I’ve seen the OB rental area, and I’ve seen your area, and I’ve read lots of articles about SD rental prices. You absolutely should not drop from $1900, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you could get more.
Based on all the excellent advice from @notrichenough I need to stop worrying about what price I am going to charge and start getting my ducks in a row for insurance, paperwork, applications, rental clauses, pool use, rental terms, credit checks, etc!! Luckily one of my good friends is the manager of a huge apartment corporate complex and I can borrow a lot of her standard paperwork and get advice.
Totally agree that finding the right tenant is more important than short term monetary gain. And… not going to have anyone with a hint of drama in their initial inquiries coming near my place!!
My current issue is the mahogany kitchen with yellowing lauhala mat inserts against my newly painted living area. It looks horrid!!
1st idea was to paint the wall color over the lauhala mat and retain the texture. We sprayed it with oil based paint (after prep and prime) and it looks like stark white against the mahogany. Barf
2nd idea is to pull out the inserts and turn them around and leave plain mahogany in the doors. So, I put an extra door I had up to visualize that and it just makes the whole kitchen seem even darker.
So now I am experimenting with painting the solid side of the door inserts with a dark beige/tan to neutralize the doors a bit. I have a paint swatch up for that.
Definitely going to be changing the backsplash tile (which is minimal in the kitchen because there are really no uppers) to pull the kitchen into my new color scheme. The new color scheme is not going to change. The paintout of the ceilings, walls and new trim are exactly what I love right now (not stuck in the 90s !!)
Worst case is I am going to have to paint out the whole kitchen which would be really sad. Have decided I would like to paint the one cabinet that is stuck over against the wall.
Right now my kitchen looks like a giant monstrosity in the room.
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