MB Review BnB
Don’t hate the player, hate the game. My review will focus on aspects of this listing that I would’ve wanted to know beforehand. Luke and Sarina are good people. Like them my father invested in real estate in Seattle in the 70’s. And like them we have had bad tenants that force us to write tighter leases. But unlike them we haven’t gone into BnB yet. However, I’ve stayed at 70+ BnB’s myself with 53 out of 53 positive reviews. I rated three stars out of compassion, but had my family not been involved in real estate it would’ve been less.
I committed 31 days to the middle unit in this row of three. I don’t expect BnB’s to be like a hotel. But I do expect them (and they have been 95% of the time) to be better than motels.
Pros
1. Location - steps away from MB, bars and the Fit gym (FYI $30 for a day pass, $100-$180 a month).
2. Has private parking in the back. Two spots can find a Sedan, but the center spot is too far up for a regular car. First come, first serve.
3. Public parking up front, but they have street cleaning 4x a week from 8–10 am meaning you have to get up to move your car.
4. Outdoor grill, frisbee, body board, surfboard in the middle unit where I stayed, and a few other beach game equipment.
5. Surf board in the middle unit where I stayed. Not sure if it’s open for use.
6. Property management is attached to the three buildings where this unit sits. I thought that would be invasive, but Luke and Sarina do a great job at giving you space.
7. Adequate kitchen supplies, but no stock pots for soups. Americans generally do not cook especially on vacation so this shouldn’t matter. However, when you’ve been traveling for 16 months like me you learn to cut costs.
Cons
1. Noise - unbeknownst to me this is on the flight path. It’s loud. Planes stop around midnight and start around 5 am. SD has an international airport right in the center of their city. Belmont park has a roller coaster, but that dies down at 10 pm. Road noise can be a nuisance. Fridge noise is noticeable intermittently. The 2nd worst offender is the generator directly outside this unit behind a wood fence powering the apartment next door. Unpredictable and intermittent as well. Then of course you can hear anyone making love on either side of the unit.
2. Poor communication - the dryer broke. In hindsight, it never spit out any heat during my stay.
3. Expensive for what it is, but not according to the BnB market. But compared to Ocean Beach or Pacific beach - totally. I was a bit salty to find out the traveling nurse next door pays five hundred less a month than me for a 3-month lease. I stayed 31 days. I didn’t get anything more than him in anyway. This was pure profit for the hosts. No costs passed the customer. But this isn’t Costco. It’s an old school family run enterprise started in the 70’s with smart land acquisitions. The market allows them to do this. The truth is on BnB this is the cheapest option for Mission Beach. Go for Pacific Beach instead or look outside of BnB to see if you can leverage their 3-month rate at a one month stay somehow.
4. No guest accommodation - after the dryer broke I asked for a drying rack or a clothesline. I was ignored multiple times on BnB. Two days before I left I called Luke b/c an unknown car parked in our spot out back. We wanted to tow, but make sure it wasn’t his friend. He mentioned off hand that there was a coin operated dryer on another property down the street. Or how you’re only given two rolls of toilet paper and a roll of paper towels for 31 days and that’s it. I asked for trash bags one time and they made me feel like I was inconveniencing them big time.
5. Old School mentality - my father has been a landlord for 40+ years in the Seattle area. I can’t tell you how many times I had to take dump runs full of leftover tenant garbage or tear carpets out with a box knife because tenant animals left numerous excrements. You eventually learn that you shouldn’t do anything nice for your tenants because they’ll end up trashing your unit eventually. You don’t upgrade applicants more than you need to unless it can justifiable increase rent. Craigslist (used) was always the go-to. You don’t improve communication or service because you have the power as the landlord. If it ain’t broke then don’t fix it. THIS is the mentality I see in full force in all aspects of this unit.
6. Ridiculously restrictive additional paperwork. In the 70+ BnB’s I’ve stayed in not a single one asked me to sign an additional agreement. Yeah....don’t sign this malarkey like I chose to. I get how they can get away with making the 3-month stay folks sign this, but a BnB guest? Absolute overkill. BnB rules cover the host in the situations they are trying to protect themselves in having tenants sign this. “Tenant will be fined $250 for a noise compliant and can be evicted without refund immediately.” Is this legal? Because in Seattle the most common eviction notices are:
1. 14-day notice to pay or vacate
2. 10-day notice to comply with the terms of the rental agreement or vacate
3. 3-day notice for waste or nuisance
4. 20-day notice to terminate tenancy (a “no cause” notice)
And to get a sheriff to remove unwilling tenants takes much longer than 3-days. Usually 30. Luckily, I’ve never had to go there on my properties. My father has once. Also, to enforce that $250 they’d have to serve you and