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For those who don't need it, rent control can go an addiction, resulting from too many old age of a sweet deal. It can go forth the existent estate musculuses paralyzed and the investing portfolio sick. "Penny wise" might have got a "pound foolish" problem.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about those who dwell in rent-controlled apartments because they cannot afford to move; I'm referring to the thousands of well-heeled ones. The flush --with greater occupation stability—move less frequently than the needy, thus reserve the cherished units. Those who can least afford it must re-rent astatine higher rates.

I stumbled upon this "housing disorder" as a Los Angeles Realtor, when encountering tons of well-to-do Westsiders tucked away in bedraggled rent-controlled apartments, determined to remain for the appealing terms tags. Landlords have got no inducement to do improvements when they accumulate rents below market-rate.

It didn't matter that these tenants had higher incomes than their landlords, qualified three modern times over for a loan, or possessed the down payment to purchase rentals of their own. It didn't even matter that they were losing thousands of dollars in tax write-offs and 100s of thousands in equity. They were proud lotto winners, and under no fortune would they give that for a bigger pot.

Three old age ago, I almost convinced Anne to buy. She was living in a $509 per calendar month rental in Occident L.A., having assumed a new identity in order to victim the building's owner. He still thought Gwendolyn--who lived there anterior to James, Henry, Erica and now Anne —was the tenant. Most L.A. landlords cannot rise the rent more than three percent a twelvemonth until the unit of measurement goes vacant; and some tenants win in pretending they are person else just to maintain the terms low.

Anne refused to purchase the $280,000 townhouse in Burbank we had selected for her purchase. First, it was in the Valley, and many Westsiders have got convulsions about investment "over the hill." Secondly, she planned to set tenants in her new place, but disquieted that they couldn't be trusted.

"Now why would you believe that, Gwendolyn? Sorry, I intend Anne."

That townhouse is now deserving $550,000, somes loss of $270,000 in equity, and her apartment—where she stays a psychological prisoner--has saved her a expansive sum of $18,000.

To date, Lindy is the lone "rent control client" who have closed an escrow with me. Inch 1993, she agreed to abandon her unit of measurement in Santa Monica in order to purchase a six bedroom, lawn tennis tribunal estate for $600,000. To afford the mortgage, she rented rooms, transforming the property into a practical dormitory. The income sustained her unemployed status until 2004 when she sold the property for $1.8 million.

Property values have got risen an average of 425% inch California since 1980 and 115% inch Los Angeles since 2000. If you have got the means, flight the "perpetual tenant syndrome" and come in the rent control rehab programme before it's too late.

Got property?