What would you do in my situation?

Question

Hello,

I have a very tricky situation.I moved to East Bay California from East Coast due to a job change however my wife and kids are still in East coast not a great situation to be in as I miss my family .The reasons I had to leave my family back are the following.

1)I bought a triplex owner occupied mf home couple of years ago  I am ruing that decision now as the move would have been a lot easier if only I continued  renting.

2) The triplex hasn't appreciated enough

to sell but will most likely break even if I happen to sell but there is potential for further appreciation in the near future just to give the numbers i bought the home for 750k and will most likely be able to sell for 850k

3)The rents are kind of ok , the home started helping me househack and live for almost free in a decent size apartment and great school area to raise my family after I invested in few upgrades.A similar apartment would cost me at least $2000 in the same neighborhood.I will certainly end up negative cash flowing if I make a move(after taking into consideration moving costs, maintenance and managing home from out of state,etc)

4)I plan to live in San Francisco for another year or so as I am finding it extremely expensive both renting or buying. For $2000+ I will end up living in a substantially downsized apartment in a decent school area and buying a home at 750k will fetch me a minimalisic home with heavy hoa fees in the East Bay area.

Upon giving it some thought here is what started making sense to me. Sell home in East coast but continue house hacking in West Coast perhaps areas such as Sacramento in a decent school area that can give me an optimal balance so that I can at least visit my family once every week.

What would you do in my situation? appreciate your feedback.

Thanks

Dylan Vargas · Answer

@Kumar Gaurav Cash flow is a tough one. Are you wanting to commute every day to the Bay Area from Sac area or would your job be in the Sac area? Sacramento has a ton of great suburbs. Roseville, Rocklin, Auburn on 80 side and Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park on the 50 side. Elk Grove is on the West and South of Sacramento. Dixon is closer to the Bay and a great community. Davis as well but very high priced. Are you thinking about a duplex or tri plex type situation? Deals can be found but Bay Area is tough for cash flow. With rates very low payments are not that bad in my opinion. Research @Wes Blackwell and you will find a ton of information on the Sacramento market.

Aaron K. · Answer

@Kumar Gaurav is your loan requiring someone to be an owner occupant?  If not what is stopping you from renting something in the bay area with your family.  Also you say you'd break even if you sold, would that not be the exact same outcome if you had been renting all this time.  Also given you only want to stay in the bay area another year or so it might be prudent to not buy something there.

Dylan Vargas · Answer

@Kumar Gaurav Welcome! You can sell the home back East, use the leftover money for a down payment in Sacramento area. Plenty of good homes and neighborhoods at a fraction of the Bay Area costs. Even the East Bay and beyond are much cheaper such as Vallejo. Move family and all is well. I would only do this if I were to live in California for say 4-5 years and not 1 year. Make sense?

Kumar Gaurav · Answer

@Dylan Vargas

Thank you! and it makes perfect sense.I really like California and feel it's a perfect place to raise my family it's just the real estate part of it which Iam finding intimidating makes me want to run away. I understand most people buy in CA for appreciation that I find speculative.

I will explore Vallejo and Sacramento any other areas I can look into for cash flow in the here now ?

What would you do in my situation?

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