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260. Hosting Hotline: There is Suspicious Activity at my Neighbor’s House. What Can I Do? · Thanks For Visiting

• 0:00
  Sarah: SEGMENT GAP Hello.
• 0:01
  Welcome back from another great episode.
• 0:02
  My name is Sarah Karakaian.
• 0:03
  Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are--
• 0:05
  Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
• 0:06
  Sarah: And this is the--
• 0:07
  Both Annette & Sarah: Hosting Hotline.
• 0:09
  Sarah: Today's a doozy, listeners.
• 0:10
  We got to help this one out.
• 0:12
  Questions: Hi ladies.
• 0:13
  Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to my question, and thank you for
• 0:18
  all that you do for so many listeners.
• 0:21
  We love you.
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  But anyways, I'll make this short.
• 0:25
  So just bought in April my first STR.
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  Woohoo.
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  Finally made that happen.
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  And super cute, cute, cute bungalow.
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  Actually, turnkey because I work full-time, kids, the works.
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  No time for renovating.
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  Did that on my primary home.
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  Turned out great, but just could not do it again this time around.
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  So anyways, great little house.
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  Up-and-coming area.
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  Hip and trendy.
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  Lots to do within walking distance.
• 1:01
  Bars, restaurants, close to the beach.
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  The problem is my neighbor is a drug dealer.
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  Lots of bad activity all day, all night.
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  Not sure really how to handle this other than I've reached out
• 1:22
  to the local police department.
• 1:24
  They've actually been very helpful.
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  They're doing daily runs now, actually patrolling.
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  Once, if not twice a day for us, which is amazing.
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  They were already aware of the problem house.
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  They've been keeping an eye on things.
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  I think there's been several arrests made in the area where they've
• 1:44
  watched people come from this home, so they are working on it.
• 1:50
  But as so far as short-term rental goes, of course, I'm really concerned what
• 1:55
  this is going to do for my reviews when people show up to have a good time and
• 2:02
  they see the activity happening next door and they see police officers driving by.
• 2:09
  I would appreciate any and all advice on this one.
• 2:13
  Very new to this.
• 2:15
  I'm pretty freaked out, so thank you for your time, and your help.
• 2:19
  I look forward to hearing from you.
• 2:21
  And by the way, first name Kim.
• 2:24
  Instagram handle @queenstreetretreat.
• 2:27
  Thank you so much.
• 2:29
  Take care.
• 2:29
  Bye.
• 2:31
  Sarah: Kim.
• 2:32
  Annette: Man.
• 2:33
  Sarah: We have some thoughts for you, Kim.
• 2:36
  Obviously, we don't have a crystal ball.
• 2:37
  We don't know how this is going to end up, and every situation's different.
• 2:40
  There's so much we don't know about your situation, but Annette, something came
• 2:42
  to mind when I was listening to her.
• 2:44
  One of our mentors, my husband, my mentors, they're home builders.
• 2:49
  So they will build brand new homes for clients.
• 2:52
  And when a client finds a plot of land, they tell them to go have a picnic
• 2:58
  there, or go work from your car there for several hours a day before you buy
• 3:03
  this land, before you commit to it.
• 3:06
  That's just part of their plot finding--
• 3:09
  Annette: Their due diligence.
• 3:09
  Sarah: Due diligence suggestion for their clients.
• 3:12
  I know this is hindsight for Kim, but how nice would it have been-- I
• 3:17
  don't know if it was-- she said it was turnkey, so I don't know if it was
• 3:19
  existing short-term rental and the seller maybe sold up because of the stuff.
• 3:23
  And listeners, if you're able to go and stay at a place that might already
• 3:28
  be a vacation rental to think about purchasing it, if that's something you
• 3:31
  can do, I know not every time, think about maybe doing that, because I think that
• 3:35
  could have been helpful for poor Kim.
• 3:38
  Annette: It sounds like, a, you've got the local police on your side, which I'm
• 3:41
  really happy to hear that because that could have been in a different direction.
• 3:45
  So hopefully with them heavily patrolling, it doesn't sound like it's deterring
• 3:49
  any of the activity, but hopefully with the consistency that will help.
• 3:54
  My first thing that I wanted to ask about is, is the DD-- we'll
• 4:01
  call the drug dealer the DD.
• 4:03
  Are they the owners of that house next to you?
• 4:07
  There might be an opportunity to see who the owner of that home is.
• 4:12
  And do they understand?
• 4:14
  Maybe if they are leasing the property, I'm not sure, but that
• 4:18
  might be an avenue of just taking a look at who owns the property?
• 4:22
  Would they care?
• 4:24
  Or maybe this person does own the property.
• 4:26
  So I would start there and do some research.
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  And a lot of times, sometimes there's neighborhoods that it's often that someone
• 4:34
  might own multiple properties, so I would try to see, do some research there.
• 4:39
  The next thing I heard you say that it's day and night, all hours, I'm
• 4:44
  assuming from that-- have you went and stayed for an entire week to see exactly
• 4:50
  how much activity is going on here?
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  I mean, is it something that is around the clock nonstop or does it
• 4:57
  just feel like that because-- I don't even know how you were alerted to
• 5:01
  this, um, if it was you when you were over there designing and moving in.
• 5:06
  But I'd really get some idea of if there was a guest there for a week,
• 5:12
  what would they be encountering?
• 5:14
  I know you're nervous about the reviews.
• 5:16
  I think we need to even go a step further here and really think about
• 5:22
  the home and having guests there.
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  What is the activity happening there?
• 5:28
  What's the future of the home?
• 5:30
  I don't want this to continue to be an issue that you're
• 5:32
  up against in perpetuity.
• 5:34
  AD MARKER
• 5:35
  Sarah: Let's just also say this.
• 5:36
  I know it's not comforting, but this can happen anywhere at any time.
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  Anyone can move into any home next door, whether your next-door neighbor is across
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  the street or smacked up against you.
• 5:46
  So this episode, if it doesn't pertain to you now, it might, and that's where
• 5:51
  I am going to plug in our next thought is-- love that the police are involved.
• 5:56
  How about city council?
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  How about local government?
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  Are you involved there?
• 6:00
  Do you have connections there?
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  Do you have your local government on your side understanding what's going
• 6:05
  on, and how can we come together as the community to look at it?
• 6:08
  What about your neighbors?
• 6:10
  Are they as concerned as you are?
• 6:11
  Could you have some allies in this mission so you're not at it alone, Kim?
• 6:16
  And then let's talk about the tough stuff.
• 6:19
  Your home, who are you marketing to right now?
• 6:21
  Are you marketing to families?
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  I'm not saying people without families you aren't concerned for their
• 6:26
  safety either, but after you have that stay, per Annette's suggestion,
• 6:30
  because sometimes we know something's happening next door that isn't
• 6:33
  great, we create things in our minds.
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  So we don't want this to be this feeling of all day, all night.
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  Get the facts.
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  And if it really is all day, all night, and if it looks like unsafe conditions,
• 6:43
  I might change my marketing until this gets nipped in the bud because you don't
• 6:47
  want to be in the middle of a lawsuit or of, like you said, a very honest
• 6:53
  review of someone's safety being--
• 6:57
  Annette: It's rough.
• 6:57
  Sarah: It is hard.
• 6:58
  Right now, do we pivot to a longer stay person who understands the
• 7:03
  area and the neighborhood, Kim?
• 7:05
  They may understand that this is an up-and-coming neighborhood.
• 7:07
  They may understand, and get a lay of the land.
• 7:09
  When to go outside, when not to go outside.
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  They may be fine with it.
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  I am one of those people.
• 7:14
  I've always lived in metro area.
• 7:16
  I'm not saying that your area is a metro area, but a lot of people around me.
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  So you don't know who you're living around.
• 7:20
  And I've been okay with that.
• 7:21
  I can look around me.
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  I'm all right with that.
• 7:23
  So maybe a longer stay guest right now until this gets nipped in the bud.
• 7:27
  Annette: Mm-hmm.
• 7:28
  I don't know how to say this, and, ooh, there's different levels to--
• 7:33
  Sarah: Drug dealing.
• 7:34
  Annette: No, there really is.
• 7:37
  Do we have any idea what kind of drugs?
• 7:41
  Different drugs bring a different--
• 7:44
  Sarah: Mm-hmm.
• 7:45
  Annette: I don't want to say clientele, but there's just-- different drugs
• 7:48
  do different things topeople.
• 7:49
  Sarah: Well, it's like different short-term rentals bring different guests.
• 7:51
  Different hotels bring different guests.
• 7:53
  Annette: What's that--
• 7:53
  Different stores bring different guests.
• 7:54
  Annette: Right.
• 7:55
  Is there some brownies being sold outside, or is there
• 7:59
  things that need more of needles
• 8:01
  and--
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  More equipment.
• 8:02
  Annette: Yeah.
• 8:02
  So not to make light of your subject, Kim, but I also just want to say,
• 8:06
  what is happening over there, I also don't want to identify that what's
• 8:12
  going on there is completely out of hand or dangerous when maybe it isn't.
• 8:18
  I don't know what's going on over there.
• 8:20
  But, man, this is a tough one, Kim.
• 8:23
  We're not going to sugarcoat it for you at all, but this is a place where I would
• 8:28
  really understand your numbers that if you need to pivot to a long-term rental,
• 8:33
  to a mid-term rental, this is something where I would already be prepping
• 8:38
  your listing and your description.
• 8:40
  I don't know how to preface this because this is something, I can just say, if I
• 8:44
  was a guest and knew that the owner of the home had visibility to the things that
• 8:49
  were going on, I think I would be a little disheartened that, I don't know, that--
• 8:53
  Sarah: They opened it.
• 8:54
  But here's the thing, Kim.
• 8:55
  People do this every day.
• 8:56
  Annette: Yeah.
• 8:56
  Sarah: People open up rentals in sketchy areas or places where
• 9:00
  criminal activity happens, Kim.
• 9:01
  So the fact that you're asked this question that you're
• 9:03
  on top of it, kudos to you.
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  Are there safety elements you can put into place?
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  Are there exterior cameras?
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  Do you have lights that come on when there's motion?
• 9:11
  Can you put taller trees to separate the visibility, or a privacy fence to
• 9:16
  separate your property from your neighbor?
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  I'm sure you've already thought of these things, but just trying
• 9:20
  to give you as much as we can to help you against the situation.
• 9:23
  Kim, would you please also keep us posted?
• 9:26
  Let us know what happens.
• 9:27
  I can't imagine that with you giving the local authorities insight into this that
• 9:33
  this is going to be a forever thing.
• 9:35
  So hopefully, now that you've brought it to light, get involved,
• 9:39
  this is your business, Kim.
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  So the fact that you are sitting in that CEO seat and you are
• 9:43
  taking action, that's amazing.
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  And here's the deal.
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  If it's not a good fit for you after a while and the numbers aren't there,
• 9:50
  and with your education and your gut, and you need to pivot, Kim, you pivot.
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  So maybe it needs to be a permanent residence or a longer term rental.
• 10:00
  And just know that there's going to be another short-term
• 10:02
  rental out there for you.
• 10:02
  Things like this happen in business.
• 10:04
  I don't care what industry you're in.
• 10:05
  All the time.
• 10:06
  Hopefully that gives you some comfort.
• 10:08
  You're not alone.
• 10:09
  And listeners, if you have any other ideas for Kim, let us know.
• 10:12
  We'll share them with her.
• 10:13
  But yeah, thanks for reaching out.
• 10:16
  And this is a real concern.
• 10:17
  Annette: Yeah.
• 10:17
  And this is something where, I don't know if you have a turnover team, a cleaning
• 10:21
  team, who's helping you with the home, but this is where I would ask them to be on
• 10:27
  high alert if they see anything specific.
• 10:30
  You really do want to involve them, letting you know ASAP there.
• 10:34
  But good luck, Kim.
• 10:36
  We appreciate you calling in and sharing because I'm sure it wasn't easy.
• 10:39
  Keep us in the loop for sure.
• 10:41
  Sarah: With that, I'm Sarah Karakaian.
• 10:42
  Annette: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are--
• 10:44
  Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
• 10:45
  Sarah: Talk to you next time.