All Forum Posts by: Kevin Gomes

Oakland is very block by block. Where I bought it's a single family home on quiet street in Fruitvale, but one block over there a little bit more traffic of the interesting kind.

For up to 3 unit homes, after occupying in 2 years, rent control status is removed and you can bring rents to market rate. 

One thing that came up with my search is that a lot of the occupants were protected (either over 60, or disabled) and I did not want to get into the moral dilemma of trying to evict someone who would have trouble finding another kind of home in the bay area. While cash is king, I also live by the golden rule which to me is more important than positive cashflow (but I won't go negative cash flow for anyone either).

I worked with Marilyn Rodriguez, she is a real estate agent and an investor all over the US. She is located in San Francisco but had no problem driving out to the East bay with me to look at properties. I was looking for the same thing in Oakland, but the multiplexes that I could afford were mostly run down and total renovations.  We actually found and closed on my first home in January. She has 30 years of experience, and it shows because she knew what to do in almost every situation that came up. I can say that her experience in the industry has help me buy a home faster than if I went with another agent. 

I met her at a lecture that she hosts every other week, I would definitely recommend attending one of them. They are full of great information even if you don't use her as your agent.

Hey @Raquel Pea,

Thank you for the long post, this is exactly what I was looking for. I actually purchased and closed on my first property in January, sorry for not getting back to you sooner just been doing first time home owner stuff. The home I bought is located in the RM-2 zone, can I do short term rental in this zone? I also sent you an email too.

Thanks

Kevin

Hi all,

I am closing on a home in early January and trying to plan accordingly for next year. It is a small 2 bedroom home with a bathroom and kitchen/living area. I am planning on airbnbing one of the rooms out while living in the other. Would I just be able to deduct 50% (yes the guest can use the bathroom and kitchen/living areas) of common area expenses? 

I think i read that I could go either by rooms or square feet? the room i am airbnbing would be a tad smaller, so if I can go by % of rooms that would be easier.

Thanks

I am looking to purchase property in Oakland and considering what are my options to house hack. I have a few questions for anyone who is currently AirBnBing in Oakland. Noticed that there are a lot of listings even in spots not zoned for any type of commercial activity at all. I'd be willing to take answers offline too if you don't want your name and possible strategy to be indexed by google/public.

1. Do you have a business license?
2. Literally Oaklands website says 2 oposite things. From the planning committee, its code is pretty strict on STRs, but the biz tax website (http://www2.oaklandnet.com/w/OAK055544) is all about collecting STR #.
3. Are you zoned in a place where you can conduct airbnb?
4. Since Airbnb pays the Transient Occupancy Tax, do they also give Oakland your address and income numbers?

Basically, can I AirBnB in Oakland? Does anyone on here do it?

Meh. Probably going to be one of the people here that wasn't a big fan of this episode. I subscribe to his podcast and probably can only listen to 1/4 or 1/2 of his episodes. When they are good they are really great. The recent one about his swim coach was one of my favorites ever. Other times I just find myself drifting off. I couldn't even finish this one.

Hey @Mark Cison . Found this thread when I googled the same exact question. Looks like your lender wasn't very familiar with FHA Guidelines. Seems the last time the doc was updated was over a year ago.

How did the deal go? Interested if you were able to creatively fund this project.

That looks good. How many SQ FT did you install?

That oakland house is not in a good neighborhood. Stay away from international blvd.

@Tony Nguyen 

What if I live in the investment property. Do I still need to put away 6 months of PITI?