Housing Low cost housing situation w/cleanup for conscious tenant - save a TON in rent!

[Mark Chiang]

I've never done this before and I've held off until now because it seems to me often people are only interested in their needs, at times it seems people who are literally homeless expect the greatest accomodations - but basically I would like to find someone who can help me clean up clutter in a three bedroom Novato townhouse in exchange for GREATLY reduced rent, possibly long term. I'd be willing to locking in the low rent for a year or more.

I figure the ideal person has dealt with clutter before, can look at it objectively as a job and if they themselves are moving in and are not just doing a cleaning job they have a vested interest.

Everything will be done in writing.

It will not be a 100% work exchange, but once again GREATLY reduced rent. After all if you have to move in we want to get things to a point where you can at least begin staying there.

Who you are as a person matters.

This is not for people with any kind of environmental sensitivities, for obvious reasons.

If you know you're qualified and are in a position to make this work please lets start a conversation, I'm open to any tips but please lets not waste each others time if people are not up for any part of it, or if there's any psychological aversion and knee-jerk reaction to judge and make assumptions. I don't want to go into my story in detail here but being open minded in this way is key.

If this sounds like it might work, tell me about you we can go from there.

If you're interested in knowing where the place is, it's in the Parkhaven complex.

Thanks for your consideration of this mutually beneficial possibility! Please also consider passing this on if you know someone who may be a good fit but are just not on Wacco.

Mark

[Mark Chiang]

Forgot to mention, I finally have some money to deal with necessary work, but I don't want to just throw money at it and if the cleanup part can be done as a trade then that just means more money towards other things.

Your rent, however low would go toward more work - a big part of it is just being a little patient and not expecting perfection from the beginning!

[Shandi]

Mark, Thank you for this conscious offer that will be a mutually beneficial arrangement. May I suggest that you take some pictures of the "clutter" to send, so applicants can be fully aware of what they're getting into, and you can save time for yourself and them. Also, you may want to indicate if pets are allowed, since many people have pets, and it's harder for them to find housing.

I've done this kind of work in the past. I remember on my first visit to someone's million dollar home, they opened their garage, which was literally filled floor to ceiling, with barely room to walk. They said "Can you handle this?" I replied that I could, but it would take many days/weeks. I got hired to clear it, and I also created a system for future storage, which would prevent this from happening again. This may be a plan to include in the process of clearing.

If an applicant says they're an "organizer", I'd get references. I'm dealing with someone who says she's an organizer, and it's become very clear that she's not. You may even want to do a "test" run before they move in.

I'm glad to know that your agreement will be in writing. This is one very important thing that many people skip over, and have to deal with at a later time, legally. Also, one last thought that's about, your agreement, once the clean up is done; you may have other needs that can be traded for partial rent, like maintenance, errands, selling some stuff on EBay/CL, or even meal prep. You may have already thought of this.

Hope you find a mutually beneficial match with a truly qualified person who needs housing.

[Mark Chiang]

Thank you Shandi. As far as photos I would say I am more than happy to provide it on request, I hesitate to just post it on here because it does feel rather vulnerable. Maybe I'll change my mind later but I ask for anyone thinking of this to also look at it from my perspective.

Pets are allowed, I have two cats.

Those are all good ideas, and of course organization is key. I'll be honest, I'm really afraid people won't give it the chance and there's no way I can anticipate peoples assumptions, and whereas we can actually help each other we may end up having a hard time separately in our own way because there isn't even an initial exploration to see if it's possible, even if it can save thousands of dollars in housing costs in the long run. Just posting this in the first place is actually a big step for me on various levels.

For what it's worth, if someone does a great job and then continues to help even in little ways, I'm not going to tell them I want to rent the place out for more money after a year or whatever. Contract is one thing, gratitude is another. If there is a connection to be made I'd go out of my way to make sure the person that helped me in this life changing situation is taken care of in the future, and maybe that means staying there in an on-going basis - or at the very least being there for them in the future if they should ever need my help.

[Carina]

Hi
Is this opportunity still.available?

[maihem79]

Hi are you just looking for one person or could it be a couple and what about animals

[Daedalus88]

Hi Mark,

I may be interested but the dates on the posts say 2017 ! Is this still happening ?

Also would like to see the pics.

I am an architect & builder who's lived in Marin for 20 yrs. & has the experience to create a nice space.

Drew