Should I take my home off the market? NorCal Coast area.

[Tanya Solomon]

Bear with me. This is my 1st time posting here and want to give enough info to accurately depict the scenario I am asking for advice on. Sorry if some of this is TMI

In a nutshell, We own an adorable 3/2 about 1400 sq ft home with an even more adorable tiny house/guest home/ADU 200 sq ft 1 bath "studio" type place with kitchen, sleeping loft (1st one in county) in a sleepy coast side community south of SF that we need to sell.

We came on the market 18 days ago and fear it could not be a worse time? Should we wait it out and see if there are any takers when things calm down and give it at least a month? Take it off the market and STR for a few months to come back in the summer? Last option would be to move back to the home as a primary but we are not really ocean town type folks. More big city types. Should we reduce the price? If so, how much and when?

We are not living in the home so it can be shown at any time to prospective buyers (typical lockbox scenario) but last week the Bay Area was put on a "lockdown" and now we can not schedule any open houses until further notice. There has been great feedback and we have over 1200 views and 50 "save/favorite" on real estate sites like Zillow. No offers. 

The home that is on the market is priced at "market value" and sites like Zillow and Refin put their estimates at around our asking price. Inventory is SUPER low!!

Popular vacation area and good for families. Safe, quiet, near the ocean, etc. Home can appeal to many types of buyers. STR crowd due to close proximity to ocean (2 blocks away), Baby boomers =great retirement area and it is a single-story, no stairs. Great for families= close enough to SF that commuting is not a killer like other areas in the Bay Area. Silicon Valley is about 45 min away. The home would be perfect for multigenerational family type scenario with the tiny house providing housing for an elderly family member or adult child of Babyboomer or a Home health aide like a companion or nanny.

The home and tiny home are staged well. New landscaping in backyard. New roof, upgraded electrical, plumbing, etc. Nothing that is a serious negative. Best of all, we finished a 2 year project to be the very 1st legal tiny house in the county. So, buyer would get two homes for practically the price of one. The main home could rent out for around 4k on average and command as much as 5-6k during peak summer/fall. Tiny house could fetch $125-$250 a night as a STR or $1500-$1800 a month in an annual lease model.

We like our agent and am confident that we have a good team behind us. So far we have advertised it as a "dream" coastal property but maybe we should change the description to be more value-driven? Does anyone have any innovative ideas that could help to educate the consumer side to the many benefits of ADU (additional dwelling unit)tiny houses? Any ideas on how to market a home during uncertain times?

As I said, this is my 1st time on this site, so please be kind.  

[Brian Garlington]

@tanya solomon My advice is to stay the course. I would also have your Realtor advertise multiple ways,....I.E. On websites that cater to investors, advertise the way someone can get income from the tiny house and the main property, but on other sites advertise it as a traditional SFR, while on another site advertise it as a Weekend getaway.

Do not try to go the STR/AirBNB route right now.....those folks are having real problems at the moment, especially here in the Bay Area.

Here is a thought you may not have considered....rent the property out as a buy and hold rental to someone with a Section 8 Voucher. I don't know your property address but it sounds like you may be in Pacifica, Half Moon Bay or Belmont. I guarantee you that you will find multiple people right now willing to move in. Just make sure you and/or a PM screen them properly. The rental income is guaranteed, you get a free inspection each year or every other year by the housing authority,...etc.

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of threads here on BP about renting to Section 8 tenants so check them out.