All Forum Posts by: Robert Marston

I have a client who has a 4-plex in Lincoln Highlands of Oakland and she pays $2449/yr for property insurance. I did a quick scan of the MLS just now and I see a lot of 4-plex properties that according to the posted financials are running $2,000-$2,800 for their property insurance.

Hope this helps!

The Plumbing Ministry in Oakland does work for the majority of my clients and has helped me at my personal properties, they do free lateral tests too!

@Cassie Kwok if you were to move in you would be able to take over the unit and remove it from the rental market but then you would not be able to re-rent the unit out for a long while. 

5 years is a magic number in many areas regarding adverse possession, have you been paying the property taxes or has the occupant? I'm assuming you based on the fact you said no monies have exchanged hands but it's good to be concise here.

Your squatters could gain legitimate tenant rights if they claim they have a written, oral or implied rental contract with you. If they have been "watching over" the property for you or paid to maintain the property this could be considered rent and they could have tenant protections.

I'm thinking if you can get them to sign a lease, even if it is a low amount of money, you will have more protections than you do now and more money than you do now. Once you lease lock them, upgrade the unit substantially (if your budget allows) and increase the rents via CapEx. You could sell the unit if you wanted once you had lease locks in place(easier than without IMO) and allow someone else to deal with the headache of yearly CPI increases etc or ride em out and do increases each year!

Depending on the neighborhood you are in, you could expect to still see some substantial growth in the exit price of your property in Oakland and with no $ looming over you holding on sounds smart to me. I'd follow what @Arlen Chou suggested and leverage the property to perhaps pick up a few more around the area and use this one property as your bank so to speak, allowing you to borrow money at a lower rate than if you didn't have a secured asset and keeps you from putting your primary residence at risk of being over leveraged in a market correction. (I seem to stand alone in the "Let's not leverage our primary home" pool, I'm just a scardy pants I guess)

So, the above remains true however the home you linked is in Castro Valley-So much different than Oakland. If you find your home situated in Castro Valley Schools your exit price would look like printing money- CV schools are heavily sought after!

@Vicky Gu unentitled land means that the land use may not be approved and there are likely no plans for the utility placement/easements. There is a permitting process for getting land approved to be built up and if the property is unentitled then that process has not taken place!

Having homes on either side means the utilities are at lease close by, but if you are on a big hill the cost to excavate and places sewer/gas may be pretty high. If you are getting a lot up in the Oakland hills on a tiny street keep in mind the logistics of getting machinery up there to develop. Some of the roads in the hills cannot accommodate large trailers!

Research the zoning so you know what can be built. Research setback requirements as well to makes sure your plan fits in the space available. 

Was there a Land Survey? Soil Tests? Both would be close to necessary IMO!

@Katie P. I'll be there! Sounds like it will be a great time! 

Hey @Adam London ,

Oakland is HUGE so averaging the whole city is not going to give us much insight as to where the deals are. There are like..10 zip codes? The unit you are describing hit the market today(Assuming, there is only 1 at that price point!) and I can't see it until next Monday (No Show till 4/10). Pictures suggest this property def could use some updating which could be a mechanism to consider as a means of bringing those rents closer to market. The rents outlined in the listing are below market rate.

The 1 bed 1 baths have a bit of room for rent growth and the 2 bed has quite a bit of room.

Appreciation seems to be all the rage in Oakland investing. This part of Oakland has seen a large amount of growth already and I suspect those price points will start to slow down but currently we are still going up. 

Positive cash flow is not something I'm seeing often in Oakland in the first year or two if you are getting deals off the MLS. Sometimes it takes a while to get tenants that are lease locked moved so you can get market rents, Oakland is tenant friendly (As I am sure you know) so this can be a hurdle that many do not anticipate when calculating bottom lines!

There were two triplex sales in 94611 within 15 months both went well above list price, one @ 605k the other at $1,450,000. 

There have been 8 duplex sales in 15 months and they seem to be going a tad under list. Average list $1,005,068 and average sold $922,000

Single family is selling about 108% of list price for ~$1,200,000 Not all of these help to price a triplex but I'm trying to give ya a feel for pricing and urgency in this zip code. 

Consider checking out property in 94601, lower entry points and similar market rental rates however on the average these properties require more TLC. =)

Howdy @Martin Ceja, you most def can get an FHA loan on a 4plex. The loan limits are based on the county you are in and you can find this information here: https://www.fha.com/lending_limits_state?state=CAL...

I see FHA flying on duplexes in my area (SF Bay Area) but the majority of our purchase prices take the FHA and 4plex loans off the table. They happen but it is not super common for market deals.

Best of luck on your property search, let us know of all your questions!! =)

Wow @Ori Skloot that's awesome! It is always exciting to hear success stories happening in my own back yard! Thanks for sharing all the numbers! That's a good rent price for East Oakland, I'd love to know what zip code this is in? Congrats, now go get another! =)

Howdy @Calvin Liang - I’m assuming this property is in Rancho San Antonio neighborhood which is a nice proximity neighborhood to the Lake, however, is still one of those neighborhoods that are seeing a lot of changes.

Looking at comps for 14 months in this area for 5+ unit commercial buildings and your average Sold price is $792,750. Most of these are >5 units, I’d say a 5plex is approx. $690k based on this but the unit layout plays a HUGE role in this number. EVERY COMP I SEE has/had tenants in place that are under-market. Assuming you could secure financing at 10% down you would not be cash flowing on this property @ $800k purchase. At a purchase of closer to $690K you might be in a different boat!

If Oakland continues to grow like it has been then there is a lot of appreciation to be had in this region however that’s far from a guarantee!