How Would You Like a Washer and Gas Dryer in Your Bedroom?

We have the place for you! Here at 2965 Waverly Drive., that’s what you’ll get! (Or some tenants will get the washer & dryer in their bathroom, or taking up 25% of their closet. It’s a lose-lose situation.)

Taylor Equities plans to turn these pleasant one bedrooms into squished and awkward 2 bedrooms, and add a washer and dryer into the mix. Oof.  Can you really make luxury apartments out of a 1985 building which has quirks all of its own? It wasn’t built to code even back then.  And increase the rent by $1000 to $2500? This should be interesting.

When Steven Taylor announced in notices slapped on our doors that they would be adding these major appliances in each unit, that’s when the great exodus of tenants began. We started out with 36 apartments. Now 20 units stand empty, and unrented!

We have always had a separate laundry room on the property, with a view of greenery and a breeze. There are 3 commercial washers and dryers, and you can do a ton in one trip, so it’s convenient, too. Taylor plans to level it as soon as he shoehorns a washer and dryer into each unit. Can he get more rent? Maybe, from dumbbells.

When you bring major appliances into an apartment, you give up major space and storage.  And gain noise, soap and fabric softener smells, vibration, leaks, heat, and a higher electric and gas bill. And your first water bill! And what about mold? Ewww.

And repairs – they won’t be commercial machines. They break down. And huge metal things in your home are ugly. And I don’t want a gas oven dryer next to my bed.

Not everyone agrees with me.  At least 5 tenants were excited about the new washer/dryers: convenient, private, and no more quarters!

When we learned with our own eyes how the sausage is made, however, zero tenants wanted them.

• Washers and dryers need new pipes, including gas pipes. You know how the Gas Co is always warning about digging underground? That. We are built into a hillside, so we have had workers tunneling under the apartments in the earth for almost 6 months now, and they’re still not done. They come up for air staggering like they’re drunk. Say, does Los Angeles have a union for coal miners?
• Taylor Equities demanded continuous access to our apartments for 10 days straight by these unbonded workers. They punched holes in every wall for the new pipes and hookups. One woman bought security cameras, and another wanted to buy a gun. (The city stepped in, and now Taylor can only do this major construction in empty units.)
• Placement is slightly different in each unit, a lot of which is trial and error. Enjoy the cages around the appliances, which greet you as

  

  you come downstairs or enter a room.

Here’s what some other landlords think about adding washers and dryers. Most of the landlords talk about houses, of course, not apartments. That’s because only idiots would think that adding appliances 30 years later is a good idea. And I wonder what they would say if they found out we already have a laundry room that the landlord wants to tear out for no reason!

Since I was in the laundromat business. a few years back, I wouldn’t recommend a washer and dryer.  I couldn’t believe how people will abuse equipment!  The tenant is going to overstuff the equipment and do damage not covered by a warranty.  I also don’t supply microwaves unless it is already built in.  To me they are just profit losers.  I’m in this for the MONEY!

And another opinion:

I would supply it all, Why not? How much is that really going to save you if you don’t?  Decent used appliances can be found anywhere for cheap.  In my market, single family homes always have the appliances supplied.

How green is our landlord?

We called LADWP numerous times to get some definitive numbers about the environmental effect of 6 current washers and dryers,  vs the 72 Taylor wants to install (One in each unit.). In spite of DWP’s constant haranguing to the public, telling us to use less electricity/water, we still don’t have any answers from them! It seems no one understands the question: who in their right mind would take away our laundry room, with fast effective machines, and add 72 wimpy ones in their place?

Meanwhile, I can do a little math: 72 is 12 times the number of appliances we have now. It’s going to take several loads of small wash to do what our big ones handle…that’s a lot of dirty water, they call it, down the drain. Not to mention the electric loads.

What if your landlord forces his way into your apartment for upgrades downgrades like this?

Our dear forefathers prepared for this in the California Constitution Civil Code 1954:

1954.  

(a) A landlord may enter the dwelling unit only in the following cases:

(1) In case of emergency.

(2) To make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors or to make an inspection pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 1950.5.

Section 1950.5 is only your move out inspection. No other entrances. And all entrances must be agreed to by the tenant, unless it’s an emergency.

So: No, Sir, no washer and dryer in my home. And if you take away our Laundry Room, I’ll take my chances at the Serial Killer Laundromat on Hyperion.

And now you know why this blog is called Killer Views.

What do you think? Do you like/want a washer and dryer in your place? Even if it takes away your closet and storage area?