101 Updates: Investments
Categories: 101 in 1001
Date: Thursday, 8 May 2008, at 9:28 pm
It took over twenty months, but, in the last few weeks, I finally completed three 101 items: #19 (Finish the renovation of the guesthouse), #21 (Purchase a third investment property), and #31 (Throw a big party in 2008 to celebrate four years in Los Angeles). As it worked out, the same project ended up counting towards all three.
 |
 |
| pictures by Brian “Rosie” Rosendahl |
I moved into this house in August 2006, at which time I received a letter from the City of Los Angeles that cited the guesthouse as being illegal. I could have turned it back into a garage, but I chose the route of legalizing it.
It was a long and very expensive process, but the good news is that the place went beyond guesthouse to now being defined as a “second family dwelling”, complete with its own unique street address. I also completely renovated it from being an empty cement shell to now being a comfortable one-bedroom home, all up to code and featuring new appliances. Thus, the renovation is completed.
Because it’s now legally a separate dwelling, this also counts as a third investment property. In fact, the project has already raised the entire property value to more than what I actually put into it, and that will only go higher when California property values eventually go back up.
To celebrate all this, as well as to celebrate my 31st birthday from April 15th, and my four-year anniversary of moving to Los Angeles from March 17th, we threw a party last Saturday night, and that completes the other item on my 101 List.