Great looking house! Good luck with your venture.

Yes, we will be fairly close to Agua Caliente, as well as Anza Borrego, but we will actually be closer to Joshua Tree.

Good thoughts about the showers vs bathtubs - I do agree that people in rentals would rather take showers instead of baths, and I really didn't think about that. I just thought that I would rather take showers in that climate, but I agree that I do not like taking baths in rental places. That really confirms that we will want to replace both bathtubs with walk-in showers. As it is now, you can take showers in the tubs, but it will be much nicer to make tubs in a walk-in showers. And if anyone wants to soak, there is a heated spa in the back yard next to the pool.

Cathedral City is wedged between Palm Springs and Palm Desert, but PS is twice as expensive as CC, and PD is at least three times as expensive. This is one of the reasons that we feel fortunate to get such a nice house in such a nice neighborhood of CC as we did. I'm very happy with the location.

The house does have laundry facilities, which are okay, but the washing machine is a top loader. The facilities will be fine for maintaining linens, but we might update those appliances in the near future. There is nothing wrong with them - they are just a bit old, but not as old or bad as the dishwasher, which we will replace immediately, along with the refrigerator. Fortunately, the kitchen is very small (an "L" shape), which I like because I do not intend to do much cooking there, and I don't think guests will either - plus there is a gas grill in the patio. We'll renovate the kitchen later, as it is functional now and not really ugly, although eventually I will want to replace the countertops and backsplash. The cabinets are not my taste, but I don't hate them, and so I can leave those as they are for a while.

We are willing to put whatever it takes to make the bathrooms attractive, as that is what we ourselves want, and our agent said that the updates there will make the house more attractive to renters. I'm a bit excited about this because I never got to renovate my own bathroom in L.A., and I think I will be able to do something interesting in the bathrooms in CC. I've always been interested in bathroom designs.

The location of the house is very close to shopping and some decent restaurants; i.e. within 10 blocks or 5 minutes, and so it seems pretty convenient. I do appreciate your recommendations, Colleen, for the instructions, and I will probably ask you more questions later.

Congrats! I’ve been looking online in that general area as a possibility as DH contemplates retirement.

What a great house! Congrats. If I were closer, I'd take that gold baroque console table off your hands. ;-) Good luck with everything. Looking forward to seeing pics of it as you put your stamp on it.

No worries Lars, it just drives me nuts when I'm trying to scope out a property and all it has is three pictures from slightly different angles of a beautifully set table and seven of the building's gym :-)

Well, Colleen, we were a bit luckier than that!

My main concern now is redesigning the bathrooms, and I did not take dimensions when I was there like I did in the bedrooms. Although the bathrooms were a bit tight, I think we have room for a 36" deep one in the master bathroom and a 34" one in the other bathroom. Anyway, I will check all dimensions when I go back and draft the floor plan. I'm sure there's a way to make it all work, but I don't want to improve more than will be valued by renters. For the neighborhood, I definitely think we can make it more upscale and benefit from that, but I don't know how quickly I want to do that.

I'm glad you got the house. It will be adorable when you're done. This will be fun to watch. :)

Congratulations! It was hard for me to look past the pool but I did notice that you got your closed off kitchen :) great catch!

I like the house!! And the price is crazy!!

I'd have a tough time getting used to concrete around a pool, no grass to cool things off. Furniture is included??? That's expensive for owners to replace everything when they move. Perhaps that's the norm. I personally hate furniture/appliance shopping and to do it all at once would drive me bonkers.

Will your rental market include families with small children? If so, I would have one bathroom with a tub. Little ones take baths. Everything is lovely!

I'm interested because we have owned a short term vacation rental condo on Maui since 2001.

Is this property leasehold or fee simple? (Land leases can be minor or substantial, and there's guesswork when the lease is close to ending.) Is there an HOA with fees?

What governments get the taxes? Is 12% the total? (We must collect 14.42% total for State and County, and we pay triple the RE taxes a homeowner pays because...it's a business.) STR is anything under 180 days.

This has been easier for us than any long term rental we owned because our agency on Maui manages a lot. We are not in their rental pool, but they can rent the condo if we have open dates. We would receive far less income if we didn't rent as much as we can direct, from Vrbo. (We tried airbnb and cancelled.) The agency runs an account for us; pays utility bills, vendors and taxes; provides monthly statements; prepares reservations for check-in at the front desk of our complex; is 'on call' for emergencies. We hire our own cleaner -- *clean* is KEY.

Are you using airbnb as a generic term for short term rentals, or will you advertise and rent direct?

Re: Bathrooms. You might retain one tub for people with small children, if you will accept children. (Can't guess why anyone thinks a tub is less sanitary than a shower -- or the hot tub or pool!) Watch shower size -- get too narrow and you can't move. No carpeting (yuk) is essential, IMO, but you don't want guests slipping and suing.

" . Little ones take baths. "-little ones, and me))

(sadly, even if I'm in Motel 6 -i'll always become covered with some allergic rush after motel 6 s, I don't know why, it's just every time it's Motel 6-and i turn into a frog, so I really try to avoid them now. Maybe it's not their baths, maybe it's their sheets and carpets. who knows. ).

But these doors on the baths, they look pretty and all, but they're a PITA. I always manage to somehow hurt myself in the process of getting out. Not ideal for bathing kids.

In any case. I know that whatever you'll decide-it will be great.

It's a very nice house. Congrats! Lars, I'm so excited!! Can't wait to see what you do there

I see a great rental potential as well-and I could picture myself living there too, quite easily.

Congrats Lars! I know you'll make it a huge success...

I agree about leaving one tub. It would be more appealing to families that need a week of sunshine R and R in the middle of winter.

Also...about the bar and kitchen table and chairs...I think if you just replaced the chairs with some that are more streamlined and simple it would make a HUGE difference in both appeal and making the rooms look a bit larger. JMHO that nobody asked for.

Congrats again!

Congrats! Looks like the house has good bones and the outside looks great.

Great that you have some furniture to get you started, but it is such a weird mix and the house will look much better once you give it the Lars touch!

The owners considered the furniture they left a liability, and one of the reasons we got the bid was that we did not require them to remove it. I think I may use the barstools and dining chairs for a while, mainly because we will be renting it most of the time, and they are extremely sturdy and well-made, and I won't care if they get damaged by renters. Eventually we will switch them out, but it's not at the top of the list. I would like to get some feedback from renters before I change out the bar and dining area, as I think it has a kitsch value that some people may like, even though I don't. It's kind of like going into a 70s restaurant that hasn't changed its decor.

We intend to have a minimum age limit of 24 or 25 for renters; thus no children. I don't think the pool is safe for children It's really kind of rare to see families with small children in Palm Springs/Cathedral City - it's mainly retired people. It's also common for AirBnB hosts to have a minimum age limit of 25 and still get fully booked. I'm really not interested in making it child friendly. We'll probably have a "No Pets" rule also, as they can do damage as well, and I do not want the liability for what some people's pets may do. I don't allow pets in my house in L.A., but I will allow them in the back yard, which can be accessed from the side gate. I'll see what the rental agents have to say about this. We might just require a pet deposit.

I'm going to measure all the rooms when we go back and draw the floor plan. I did that for our house here before we moved in, but I want to see what we can do with the bathrooms. Kevin wants to gut the second bathroom, but we'll have to look into that - I think we would have to move the toilet, and that might be more expensive than it is worth. We have a decent renovation budget, but whatever we don't spend, we can use to pay down the new mortgage. The master bath has a very odd shaped (sort of egg-like or oval) tub, and so I think we can get a 36" deep shower in there without having to move fixtures around. Kevin wants to do both bathrooms at the same time, but we're going to have to talk about that.

The kitchen is somewhat open - at least it has a view to the pool - and it is very small and "L" shaped, but I don't think people are really going to cook there. Anyway, I will make sure we have an outdoor kitchen, and it will be easily accessible from the old kitchen.

Thanks for all your comments! You will be hearing more about it when we start the renovation projects. Today we signed the loan papers at Kevin's bank on the Sony lot. Here's a view of the parking lot that I used

Here's the lobby of his building:

I've not heard of Vrbo that I can recall, but I will look into that - thanks for the recommendation.

The house is on fee land, and so we will own it and there are no HOA fees, but we do have to assume the lease on the solar panels, but it is an easy lease to get out of, if we choose to. I think we will just keep it as it is for now.

The 12% tax is for the city of Cathedral City - as I said, Palm Springs charges more. This is in addition to regular property tax, and the 12% will be just on the rent that we get - not the value of the property like regular property tax.

On the loan, the house is listed as a second residence or vacation home, but we can still do STR.

I'm going to have more questions later about how the spend the decorating budget that we have. I really don't want to spend money that will not increase the amount of rent we will be able to get, and I might have to rely on Lucio for some of that. Demographics in the area are changing, however, and CC is becoming more upscale. It looks like we are between Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs, and Palm Desert is just east of Rancho Mirage. RM median price are about twice CC, and I believe PS is about 1.5 as expensive as CC. Still 150% is significant, and prices are predicted to go up faster in CC than in PS. If you look at only houses, then PS is twice as expensive as CC, as PS has many more condos, but we were not interested in those, although we looked at a few.

While I understand you want to rent to adults only, just for others I’d say children don’t need tubs. Our DD was often showered as a little one.

I think many people consider baths unhygienic because you’re stewing in your dirt instead of sluicing it off.

I also know a lot of people who won't take baths, but I'm not one of them. However, I never take baths in hot climates, if I can help it.

Congrats! I can't believe how much how you're getting for that price. Better than I remember prices being in California. Lucky duck. Beautiful canvas for you there.

Good, it's what we call 'fee simple', no additional fee to be paid on leased land. Do you know if your RE tax will increase from what the seller paid as an resident homeowner?

We require the primary renter to be at least 25. No pets. No parties. Our condo complex also has rules a renter must accept, like 'quiet hours' between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. Are your immediate neighbors full time residents?

The BR furniture depends on what guests you expect. A pair of extra-long twins can become a king in a secondary BR. Decor needs to be tough; some renters are great, but some are abusive and feel 'entitled' just because they are paying you. (Hotels deal with this constantly.) Avoid small, expensive things that can easily 'go missing'. If you use an agency, they will have a list of required furnishings: Linens, towels, paper goods, place settings for X-many, blender, etc. Can they help you find cleaners, landscapers, pool cleaners, Bug Man, HVAC technicians?

You may want a rental contract if you rent direct. We require damage insurance, but have seldom had problems with our direct renters, who come to 'know' us through the booking process. Agency bookings are different -- and agencies will charge for visiting the property. ($50 a visit to...plug in the washer/reset the TV channels/adjust the fridge settings for clueless guests.)

Congratulations, Lars! What a gorgeous setting that house has. The views and the pool are magnificent. It will be a fabulous get away destination. I can't wait to see it with your art in place.

Lars - get very familiar with VRBO, it is huge. As one rental owner in PD said, hate them but they're the only game in town. Of course there is AirBnB and numerous agencies, but VRBO is BIG. Look at rentals on their site that will be your competition. You can learn a lot looking at their descriptions, photos. Also look at their bookings to see how successful they are. Here is a listing of a place I rented a few years ago VRBO. The Canadian owners own several rentals in PD, they appear successful. They handle the rentals themselves and have a local individual manage local maintenance. You might consider that if you are willing to deal with renting them. I owned vacation rentals in Mexico for several years and handled all my own rentals and had onsite people to handle maintenance and repairs and greeting when I was out of town. I found 90% of the guests polite and considerate of my property, we communicated mainly through emails, so it wasn't much work on my part. I am still surprised how many people viewed a rental in Mexico and readily sent me money (in USA) to secure the rental.

Here's some info about STR in Cathedral City. We will be using an agency, but we have not selected one yet - that will be down the road, but we might start interviewing some of the agencies before renovating, so that we can get an idea of how much updating we need to do. I don't think we will need to go to extreme MCM and can allow the house to have some "character".

I've looked at some of the VBRO houses for rent in CC, and it looks like the leases have plenty of protections for the owners. Some of them charge extra for turning the thermostat from 78° to 72° ($25 per day) and it seems that $45 is the average price per day for heating the pool, which of course would only be needed in the winter.

To start with, I am going to try a somewhat eclectic decor (I think I can make it work) and combine a few existing 70s items with a modern look throughout most of the house. I would do the 70s look only in the bar/dining area, but I want the living areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, and outdoor areas to look modern. Whatever I do, it will not be to everyone's taste, but I still think it will appeal to enough people. If that doesn't work, I can always change it.

Where in Mexico did you have a rental? Was it Cabo? That's the last place we went in Mexico, which was March of this year for Kevin's birthday.

I find it interesting that there are so many 'plants' in the house and they're all fake. It's so odd when they're living in a warm climate and nothing is real.

And the furniture is soooo big, heavy and bulky. That's a big honking table of some sort in the bedroom.

The sellers are Canadian, and I guess they missed having green plants, but green plants take a lot of water; therefore it makes sense to replace them with fake. However, I will be getting rid of all of those, as I just consider them dust collectors. If I were going to live in the house, I might have some succulent plants indoors, but those still have to be watered.

There are a bunch of sago palms beside the walkway to get to the front door, and Kevin likes those. Also, there are some palm trees in the front and side yards, and these are on a sprinkler system, but will not use all that much water.

I have no lawn in my front yard in L.A., but I do have some in the back yard, and so of course it has to be watered and mowed - all year. My front yard here is mostly succulents, and they do not require much water, but I also have several hibiscus, and they do require a bit more water.

The bedroom furniture will be the first to go!

Am I the only one who thinks the bathrooms are great just the way they are? They look clean and easy to clean. I think you got a great deal, Lars. It's a really nice house. I'd throw out two of the three chairs and the throw pillows in the living room, get rid of the table and chairs and the bar, and ditch the fake greenery and other decorations. Also that refrigerator looks huge for a rental unit. I agree that most people aren't going to cook a lot. I live in the Missouri Ozarks and know nothing about California taste so don't take me seriously at all. I'm probably even tacky for the Ozarks. I'm looking forward to seeing your renovations.

I think the bathrooms can wait to be reno-ed. I understand the appeal of a walk-in shower but I wouldn't do both at the same time. I also wouldn't be in a rush to ditch the master bedroom furniture. It's not to everyone's taste but everything looks solid and could be totally transformed with paint and possibly repurposed elsewhere. I could even see the bar set looking pretty nifty and practical in matte black. Furniture gets expensive fast when you have a whole house to furnish.

I think having a large refrigerator is good - for when we have parties, but it is large for a rental unit. Right now it has box wine in it, as if they did not have enough wine in the wine fridge by the bar. There is also a beer fridge beside the wine fridge and another beer fridge in the garage.

Here's another view of the dining table

Video (taken by Kevin) showing the patio with the outdoor dining table and propane grill

I am from Missouri also and well aware that 100+ is different in a dry desert area but I have problems with thinking people will want to spend time outside grilling in that type of heat until way after the sun goes down. Will be very nice before and after things heat up for the year.

What a nice house, Lars! I assume most folks won't do much cooking, so the refrigerator and cupboards would suffice for bar supplies too. The bar space is like left over space and might help to become the kitchen table area if you ever develop the kitchen better.

I like the curb appeal, the rooms, and the detailing of the windows. Lucky to have plantation shutters and patio furniture. I think removing the artificial plants, the valance in the kitchen, and some of the wall decor will help you envision future changes and decor. The bathrooms look fine in the photos, but I would definitely repaint the maroon bathroom. As for the furniture in the master well you will know if you can make it work by deleting all the removables in the room to see the set on its own. Then see where this leads you.

Maifleur, we will be renting it mostly in the winter and much less so in the summer, and in the winter (Nov-April, and even May), the temperatures will be very pleasant outdoors. We can put in some outdoor misters to cool parts of the patio area. These work very well in the dry climate, and we would only need them when it is very dry.

I happen to like the maroon color in the bathroom - it looks much better in person than in the photos, and so I won't change that out right away - perhaps later. Anyway, people don't live in the bathrooms, and if that color were in a living area, I would definitely change it. For a bathroom, it will be fine with me, and I already have ideas for how to use it.

I didn't realize that the owners didn't live in the house Lars. That certainly explains selling it furnished. Thanks for explaining.

I'll bet it would look so much better right away by getting rid of all the dusty fake plants, and removing the heavy chairs and definitely the heavy bedroom furniture. That would immediately lighten the atmosphere.

It sounds like you and Kevin are going to have a lot of fun with it!

When I saw all the bad furniture, I thought that the bad staging would perhaps lower the price, but we had to pay over asking, as there was a bidding war. We bid $10K over, and our agent still had to do some convincing to help us get the house. I think other bidders were making some demands that we did not make, such as removal of the furniture.

Kevin is looking forward to being able to hang some of his artwork there.

I still have to get some documents to the bank, and that is getting more complicated than I thought, and so I may have to call someone there to help me. It's been ten years since we bought the house we are in now, but we were making a very short move - less than seven miles - and we lived close to the agent we were using. The house in CC is 120 miles away, and so we can't just drop in. We are getting a loan from Kevin's bank, and they have asked me for forms that I don't even know what are.

Yes, mortgage lenders ask for lots of documentation. Last fall when DH and I purchased the rental house at the beach, the bank gave me a list of docs they needed. I handed the loan officer a packet with a table of contents to the loan officer. From past mortgage application experiences, I learned that the lenders have a habit of asking for docs I had already given them or losing some. The packet surprised them but it did help from being nitpicked to death.

We have everything they need, including a 51 page escrow document from the property in Texas that we sold recently. I think that is the last thing.

Yesterday the credit union sent emails to Kevin and me with requests, but one email did not reach me, and I think they put the wrong email address on it. I had to talk with them on the phone this morning to convince them that I did not have the email, and then they discovered that they had made a mistake, but I'm not exactly sure what it was. Anyway, I finally got them to send me the email, and I should be done now for a while.

Inspections are next week, and our agent will handle that for us. The process is getting a bit tedious for me right now, and I will be much happier when it is over!

Yeah, DH told me lenders pretty much ask for your life history now.

I've been checking costs of bathroom renovations, and for now, I think I will keep the bathtub/shower as it is in the master bathroom and just renovate Kevin's bathtub to convert it to a walk-in shower. I asked for some advice in the Bathroom forum. It looks like we will not be moving the toilet in Kevin's bathroom, and we may put off changing the vanity for now. We have the money to do it, but I want to wait until we start getting some rental income. Our sister also advised us not to over-improve, as we may not get a return in rental for that. I think she needs to come out and see the house herself.

I think....opinion warning.....lol......upping the quality of the bathrooms would be cool, but as long as you can compete with other rentals in the area....? I think as long as the bathrooms look "nice", not run down, that's enough. I might declutter the master bedroom, take the vanity out, change the wall decor to what Kevin has to offer....that sort of .....staging tweaks. Other than that, save your money and go on to the next one. The pool and inground tub is just GORGEOUS. The landscaping, the size of the rooms, open concept....it's already THERE! A VERY nice, well thought out purchase. Congrats!

the pool view is wonderful. Congrats and good luck!

I think the advice not to over-improve is wise. You can rent as is and in any case, the staging tweaks (perfect term, nicole) you've already contemplated will elevate the look of the house a lot. You chose well with this house, Lars. Renos aren't essential and you can evaluate your changes slowly as you rent out the place.

I agree with others to wait on reno, only do the essential, cleaning up anything necessary, if you can, remove or replace some of the big furniture. The area has great consignment shops, The Private Collection is a favorite. For turnover you want a good/fast washer and dryer, the management company might dictate much of the details of what you need. Some places I rented had two units, but they had more bedrooms.

Also as you get to know the area, you might find better (less expensive) contractors that can work during the off season and you can manage it onsite.

The vacation rentals I owned in Mexico were on the mainland in the town of Sayulita, in Nayarit (north of Puerto Vallarta). The town has really grown in the time since I built my rentals.

I once stayed in San Blas, Nayarit (on the beach), and so I am familiar with that area of Mexico. There was a bit of a problem with mosquitoes, and so I had to wear insect repellent while there, but only in the evening.

I've found a contractor in CC that I think will be good and not too expensive, and we will have him bid on changing the tubs to walk-in showers. At this point, we have decided that we want to convert both tubs to walk-in showers - just because that is what we both want and will be happier with. Also, the off-season is coming up, starting in July. I would leave my bathroom as it is if the tub had tile around it, but since it has a plastic surround, I want to replace that. I also really do not like the tub and do not plan ever to take baths there. We will not be renting to people with children, partly because of the pool.

Our real estate agent said that people in CC prefer walk-in showers and that tubs are not required by most renters. Anyway, as I said, if someone wants to have a soak, they can do that in the spa in the patio.

Planning to upgrade gradually is a very good idea. Each year you can make upgrades during the off season. As C Marlin mentioned you can find some really nice furniture at consignment shops and estate sales. Have two friends with homes in the desert that have purchased most of their furniture this way, and the homes look fabulous. Thinking that you are going to have lots of fun with this.

Congrats! The house looks nice.

We've rented a few places through VRBO. I would agree with not over improving. It needs to look nice enough in the pictures. Clean, comfortable, and in working order is probably the most important part.

I've had the impression that many owners get the furnishings from garage sales or thrift stores. The furnishings you have look nice enough from the photos. I'd wait a little while and see how renters in general treat your things before you upgrade too much. I'm not sure how expensive or sentimental your art is. We stayed at a place in Hawaii where the owner had signs up about not taking the art or if it was missing, it was $XX. I don't know the story behind it so maybe theft was a problem. The art on the walls was hers. She wasn't particularly skilled as an artist. Other places we've stayed have been just just been generic, inexpensive, mass produced art of the local theme.

We're not going to redo the whole house - just the tub to walk-in shower conversions. We might have to replace the dishwasher and refrigerator, but if they are in working condition, I will leave them as they are. The water dispenser in the refrigerator leaks, and I don't know the condition of the rest of it. If I am unable to fix the leak myself, we will probably replace the refrigerator.

I'm going to leave the living room furniture as it is, except that I want to get rid of (i.e. sell) the gold leaf console. I think I can get a decent price for it, but I don't want it in the house. I also want to replace the master bedroom furniture right away, as it is nauseating for me to look at.

We bought the dining table we have here in L.A. at an estate sale across the street from us.

We won't be putting our best art up, but we do have some very nice and valuable pieces that we want to get out of our garage here. If we hang them on earthquake hanging devices (which we need to do anyway), they will be extremely difficult to take down. We also plan to install security cameras at the entrance, so we would be able to see if anything is removed from the house.

I think the furnishing are nice enough in the living room, but is the dining table pub height (or whatever they call the taller than regular height)? Both it and the chairs with it and the bar stools look as if they are. Lots, probably most of your tenants without kids will be seniors, I would guess. Even though the pool would appeal to me, I would not rent a place that only has higher chairs for dining (if that's what they are) because I don't find them comfortable at all, nor do most of my friends with a few years on them!

For several hundred dollars, I'd replace those - I just looked at PS craigslist and lots of nice, inexpensive sets to choose from. I also think it would give the house a much more updated look.

If they are regular height, then disregard, although for the minimal expense involved, I'd probably still replace them all with something nice but used from CL.

eta: now that I made the mistake of looking at CL in Palm Springs area, I want to go there to shop! Good think my CL doesn't have all that great stuff!

That's a great house, Lars. Congratulations on your purchase!

I think that replacing the tubs with showers is a great idea and would make that a priority in the renos.

When I've rented a short term property, what mattered most to me was cleanliness. We've stayed at two places that I had to clean when we first arrived because they didn't appear to have been cleaned for months. Hair around the toilets, soap scum in the shower, crumbs and popcorn under the sofa, food splatters on the wall around the kitchen trash can, etc. No amount of great furniture or renovations can take the place of cleanliness...not ever!

The other thing that really matters to me is that the towels and sheets be in good shape. Thread bare towels and sheets with holes in them are a real turn off. I've gotten to the point that I bring my own towels and sheets now, if possible, and for the rates these places charge, that really shouldn't be necessary.

Anyway, I think I'm slightly off topic, but if it were me, I'd start with the tub renos, make sure the applicances are in good working order, invest in decent linens/towels and make sure the place is CLEAN.

I completely agree with you, Dawn, and plan to do those things. There are regulations regarding towels and linens that must be provided, and we also have to get a business license.

The dining table in the kitchen area is bar height, as are the chairs around it, but there is an outdoor dining table that is the correct height, and it has six chairs that go with it. (Scroll up to the patio video I posted, and you will see that.) We already have an extra dining table in storage here, but it might not fit as well. I also have a 3/4" thick round glass top that I used to use for a dining table in Venice, and I would just have to get a base for it, but I'm not sure that glass is a good choice for a rental. We also have extra dining chairs in the garage.

I'll have to remember to use CL in Palm Springs. We bought our coffee table at a used furniture shop in PS. It was $300 and is a 1960s American knock-off of aDanish surfboard table by Grete Jalk. I actually like the knock-off better, and it has the name of the American company that made it, but I don't remember what that is. Ours has a solid recessed bottom shelf that we use a lot.