After spending January of 2025 at the DMan’s in Orange County, I moved back to the San Gabriel Valley to be closer to my house and have a place that was a little more suited to a dog with advancing arthritis.
The AirBnB I found was not ideal. The unit in the back meant I didn’t have the privacy I had come to take for granted after living in a single-family home for over 30 years. There was also another dog for Kody to deal with, and he didn’t take it well.
The long-term neighbor in the back eventually moved out and what followed were a succession of short-term folks who shared our driveway, but in general, were quiet. I would go to bed one night and find new neighbors the next morning. I kept saying it was only temporary. I will be back home in a few months.
I had made President’s Club that year (an award at my job) and the prize was a trip to Venice, Italy. Not the best timing, but the DMan and I were excited and had even decided to extend the trip and visit Vienna, Austria. It was going to be our Double V trip.
I boarded Aja for the first time, Kody went to DMan’s mom for a visit and off we went to Europe for a little over a week. Although it was fun, I was worried about leaving Kody. I was also worried about how being gone for over a week was going to impact my timeline for getting home back. I knew if I wasn’t following up on things daily nothing was going to happen.
The flight home was long. We picked up Kody and headed to the rental. It was hot, I was tired and all I wanted was a glass of wine and a nice shower.
It was dark when we pulled up, but I knew something was off. There was a porta potty in the front yard, a sign of construction. I went in first, flipped the light switch and nothing happened.
“The power is off,” I told the DMan.
We had gotten friendly with one of the neighbors who also had a dog, and he happened to be outside. DMan went over to ask him if he had power and he said, “Wow, you guys haven’t been here? You missed it. They have been tearing the whole back house off. Jack hammers, tons of noise and a real mess!”
In just one week, the rental had become a major construction zone. And one with no electricity.
I immediately called the owner. He had always been very receptive, and he got back to us in about ten minutes. He was coming over with his crew to see what he could do.
Turns out the power had been off for four days.
Some of his construction crew arrived first. They had cut power to the entire house and were only going to be able to restore part of it that night. The rest would have to wait until morning.
When I asked why they would do that knowing, I was living there, the reply I got was, “Well, since you didn’t complain, we thought everything was fine.”
The owner got there and with half the house having power, we were at least able to get two of the air conditioning units working, some of the lights and the refrigerator. Although I didn’t have a lot of food there since we had been out of the country, what was there, of course, was spoiled.
Just a couple of months before, I had thrown everything out of two black mold filled refrigerators in my house. Having to do it again, knowing I was still fighting with AAA to replace the refrigerators (of course they said they could be cleaned and they would not be reimbursing for all the spoiled food), triggered all the frustration and anger I had been feeling. Whatever relaxation I had gotten from the trip was destroyed.
The same night I discussed with the owner how having a dog who needed some outdoor space and the fact that I worked from home was not going to be conducive to having jackhammers and construction crews on the property all day long. He agreed to halt the construction and allow me to get out of my stay. He suggested a couple of other properties he had that I could look at.
Move number three in four months happened about a week later, to another one of his properties. It was bigger, had a lot more privacy, but still had some issues. Since inventory was low and demand was so high, it was expensive, but in no way shape or form a luxury rental. I stayed there for four months before finally making the move home.
I didn’t need all the drama on top of all the stress I was already feeling. Looking back on it, here are two things I would have done differently and one thing I did right:
Don’t settle: I should have known that any timeframe I was going to come up with to be home was going to be extended. My garage fire kept me out of the house for eleven months, so thinking I was going to be back sooner, was just plain delusional. Me thinking I could suck it up and deal with the first rental was just plain stupid. I should have treated it as short-term stay, moved very little in and looked for another place immediately.
Don’t worry about the monthly budget: I had thought the insurance company would baulk at a high monthly rate, but the reality was, they knew things were overpriced. I had a $94,000 budget for twelve months of loss of use. When I moved the second time, the monthly fee was double what I had been paying and they didn’t say a word. I If you have the coverage, use it. Just double the time you think it is going to take. I had thought it was going to be six months max. (I got back in nine months). I should have budgeted for a year, which would have meant 7,800 per month was doable. If I had looked at it that way, I would have found something more suitable before I left for my trip out of the country.
I found my own place: You have the right to find your own lodging. You do not have to wait on your insurance to find it for you. It can be an Airbnb, a hotel, or a rental. I had an emergency credit card with an available balance, so I could book what I wanted and have them reimburse it, instead of waiting on them for any money. It’s tempting to let them do SOMETHING for you, but when you feel like everything is stuck having a place to stay you pick yourself lets you feel like you have something back in your control.
The AirBnB I found was not ideal. The unit in the back meant I didn’t have the privacy I had come to take for granted after living in a single-family home for over 30 years. There was also another dog for Kody to deal with, and he didn’t take it well.
The long-term neighbor in the back eventually moved out and what followed were a succession of short-term folks who shared our driveway, but in general, were quiet. I would go to bed one night and find new neighbors the next morning. I kept saying it was only temporary. I will be back home in a few months.
I had made President’s Club that year (an award at my job) and the prize was a trip to Venice, Italy. Not the best timing, but the DMan and I were excited and had even decided to extend the trip and visit Vienna, Austria. It was going to be our Double V trip.
I boarded Aja for the first time, Kody went to DMan’s mom for a visit and off we went to Europe for a little over a week. Although it was fun, I was worried about leaving Kody. I was also worried about how being gone for over a week was going to impact my timeline for getting home back. I knew if I wasn’t following up on things daily nothing was going to happen.
The flight home was long. We picked up Kody and headed to the rental. It was hot, I was tired and all I wanted was a glass of wine and a nice shower.
It was dark when we pulled up, but I knew something was off. There was a porta potty in the front yard, a sign of construction. I went in first, flipped the light switch and nothing happened.
“The power is off,” I told the DMan.
We had gotten friendly with one of the neighbors who also had a dog, and he happened to be outside. DMan went over to ask him if he had power and he said, “Wow, you guys haven’t been here? You missed it. They have been tearing the whole back house off. Jack hammers, tons of noise and a real mess!”
In just one week, the rental had become a major construction zone. And one with no electricity.
I immediately called the owner. He had always been very receptive, and he got back to us in about ten minutes. He was coming over with his crew to see what he could do.
Turns out the power had been off for four days.
Some of his construction crew arrived first. They had cut power to the entire house and were only going to be able to restore part of it that night. The rest would have to wait until morning.
When I asked why they would do that knowing, I was living there, the reply I got was, “Well, since you didn’t complain, we thought everything was fine.”
The owner got there and with half the house having power, we were at least able to get two of the air conditioning units working, some of the lights and the refrigerator. Although I didn’t have a lot of food there since we had been out of the country, what was there, of course, was spoiled.
Just a couple of months before, I had thrown everything out of two black mold filled refrigerators in my house. Having to do it again, knowing I was still fighting with AAA to replace the refrigerators (of course they said they could be cleaned and they would not be reimbursing for all the spoiled food), triggered all the frustration and anger I had been feeling. Whatever relaxation I had gotten from the trip was destroyed.
The same night I discussed with the owner how having a dog who needed some outdoor space and the fact that I worked from home was not going to be conducive to having jackhammers and construction crews on the property all day long. He agreed to halt the construction and allow me to get out of my stay. He suggested a couple of other properties he had that I could look at.
Move number three in four months happened about a week later, to another one of his properties. It was bigger, had a lot more privacy, but still had some issues. Since inventory was low and demand was so high, it was expensive, but in no way shape or form a luxury rental. I stayed there for four months before finally making the move home.
I didn’t need all the drama on top of all the stress I was already feeling. Looking back on it, here are two things I would have done differently and one thing I did right:
Don’t settle: I should have known that any timeframe I was going to come up with to be home was going to be extended. My garage fire kept me out of the house for eleven months, so thinking I was going to be back sooner, was just plain delusional. Me thinking I could suck it up and deal with the first rental was just plain stupid. I should have treated it as short-term stay, moved very little in and looked for another place immediately.
Don’t worry about the monthly budget: I had thought the insurance company would baulk at a high monthly rate, but the reality was, they knew things were overpriced. I had a $94,000 budget for twelve months of loss of use. When I moved the second time, the monthly fee was double what I had been paying and they didn’t say a word. I If you have the coverage, use it. Just double the time you think it is going to take. I had thought it was going to be six months max. (I got back in nine months). I should have budgeted for a year, which would have meant 7,800 per month was doable. If I had looked at it that way, I would have found something more suitable before I left for my trip out of the country.
I found my own place: You have the right to find your own lodging. You do not have to wait on your insurance to find it for you. It can be an Airbnb, a hotel, or a rental. I had an emergency credit card with an available balance, so I could book what I wanted and have them reimburse it, instead of waiting on them for any money. It’s tempting to let them do SOMETHING for you, but when you feel like everything is stuck having a place to stay you pick yourself lets you feel like you have something back in your control.
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