All Forum Posts by: Katrina Razavi

Hey @Sean Walton yes, I'd totally be down for something like that. I live and work in the city, so long as it's somewhere in the city I can likely make it. We may want to pick a location that's relatively close to Bart or some public transportation to make it accessible for other folks in the area. I'll also shoot you a colleague request so we can connect!

Yep good point @Amit M. one of the main reasons I pulled the trigger was the ability to lock in a historically low 30 year fixed rate mortgage. That was my logic in waiting vs buying. Sure, prices may go down a bit, but I def predict interest rates to rise in the near-term. Sounds like @Brian Shum can likely qualify for a good mortgage so something else worth considering Brian.

Thanks at @Chris Mason and @Dan Redmond both very good suggestions. Noted!

Hi BP friends! Curious to hear if there are any tips or best practices for doing renovations particularly in SF given the many rules and requirements. I'm planning on turning an illegal in-law unit (currently far from code and a shoddy job) into a legal one. Would love any tips and/or referrals to reliable GC's, architects and such. I also have the option of using my cousin who's a GC in San Diego and was thinking there may be ways to save some money by using him as a GC and pairing him up with good subs + an architect from up here. Thoughts?

Welcome @Matt Pendleton! I'd love to hear how that fix/flip went too, best of luck

Hi @Brian Shum I've been debating exactly what you're debating for the past 3-5 yrs since moving up to SF from LA. That being said, I'm about to finally close on a property in Bernal in the price range you described. My husband and I are in a very similar position that you and your wife are in in terms of family planning + finances. That being said, I'll share my thought process. Hope it helps:

• Looking at it from a monthly perspective- Our scenario is one in which we're buying an SFR that's RH2 zoned with the plan to renovate the downstairs, live in it and rent the upper unit. The rental income covers our mortgage and we're out of pocket on property taxes, insurance, etc. But from a monthly perspective we're spending way less out of pocket in that scenario compared to continuing to rent in the city. (Rent=3k+/month vs. out of pocket costs just under $2k/month). Looking at it from a month-to-month perspective helped me. What is a big DP investment doing for me? It's not throwing my money away on rent and saving me almost $1300/month) with the potential to sell the property for more $$ in the future
• Big and L/T Investment- Yes, it's a big down payment and investment. But given my background, skill set and past positive experiences w/ real estate investments I have no qualms using my money in this way. Of course, you have to be comfortable making a big DP and understanding there are market cycles so be comfortable with making that investment and not pulling it out for a min. of 5-10 yrs. I plan on holding onto this one even if we leave the bay area, but everyone's situation is different
• San Francisco and tech- technology isn't going anywhere. Of course there will be boom/bust cycles in both tech and RE, but SF is the hub of technology and it is eating the world (for better or worse).
• Supply and demand- given the above bullet, markets are built on supply and demand. That's why a 100 yr old home that isn't worth more than $80k, is selling for $1.5m. You have a city that's 7x7 where it's not easy nor much space to build on, w/ a demand for folks wanting to get into the tech sector. This makes SF unique in the sense that it's an expensive market to buy into, but IMHO is a bit more secure due to the "tech hub" 
• Timing- I struggled w/ this a lot. When I first moved here I told myself I wouldn't buy b/c it "has to be a peak year." I found myself saying that for 4 yrs. There are better times than others to jump into the market, no doubt about that. But I think that SF properties don't have the volatility that other markets face (i.e. Florida, Arizona). For me personally, not getting into the game at all was worse than overpaying...but depends on your risk tolerance.

Those are just my thoughts and opinions, if you'd like to discuss would be happy to chat on the phone or over coffee. I know that it can be a very stressful decision :)

@Chris Larsson great question. i've been doing a ton of research on this myself. re: condo conversion, as others have suggested. do your diligence on eviction history, call the rental board and give them the address and make sure the eviction history is clean. This can make it harder to find a qualified property, but here's a good post about condo conversion/evictions. http://www.andysirkin.com/HTMLArticle.cfm?Article=...

On my end, I'm in the process of buying an SFR that has an illegal in-law below that I want to legalize. There are a number of ways to do this, duplex (b/c zoning is RH2), ADU, etc. but it depends on the property's zoning.

If you truly want to condo convert a 2 unit building, it basically has to have no tenants (unless you're willing to hold off until they leave), but as others mentioned you can add more sq. footage. Check with the planning dept what the max height is for your building. Also I think the rule is there must be a 45% setback of your total property depth so do your measurements. This is also a very handy resource: http://propertymap.sfplanning.org/ plug in the property address and you'll find out zoning, sq footage on file w/ the city, complaints, past permits and more.

One more thing I'd highly encourage you to do is to go to the SF planning dept in person and ask questions. There are a ton of resources in that building.

Awesome @Dan Redmond just sent you a direct message by the way

Hi @Eli Rubel came across this as I'm in the same boat you are. Curious to see if you ended up moving forward w/ anything in the city of SF? 

HI @Dan Redmond thanks for sharing. Wow that sounds like a stressful situation, but given that was 10 yrs ago I'm sure it was well worth it!