All Forum Posts by: Susan Tan

I currently live in SF Bay Area as a renter. I'm feeling uncertain about my next real estate purchase to house hack. I can do either of 2 actions:
1. Buy a 3bed/2bath in a waterfront property in Benicia, CA & get 2 new roommates to pay off mortgage. No matter the property this definitely will negatively cash flow because this is SF Bay Area.
2. Buy a duplex to fourplex in Portland, OR or Vancouver, WA, save more by not paying any state taxes, & find a tenant for the other units. This has a greater chance of positively cash flowing.

If you can take your job to be fully remote full-time as a single person without kids, what would you do? I wouldn't buy a duplex anywhere in SF Bay Area because they start at $800k+, which is ridiculously high price point. If you've moved out of CA in order to buy more affordable real estate in Pacific NW or TX or literally anywhere that's NOT a HCOL coastal city, do you have any regrets on that decision?

Where do I find the past HOA fees for any given condo/townhouse property address in Alameda County or Solano County, CA? I've been looking at 2 condo/townhouse properties for sale, but I need HOA fees to calculate my true NOI. I also have no idea how much these properties would even rent out for because rentometer.com doesn't have this data.

• https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/735-Buchanan-St-Apt-221_Benicia_CA_94510_M18162-97178?ex=CA2917396723#photo7
  
• https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/730-Military-E_Benicia_CA_94510_M24146-99162?view=qv 

https://portland.craigslist.org/d/real-estate/search/rea shows properties for sale. How do I tell if these ads are legit and if yes, would these transactions involve my buyer's realtor to make the letter of intent/purchase agreement? Of course, all transactions go thru title insurance & title company.

@Account Closed: Pretty neat that the detached ADU increased value of property by over 2x.

@Matthew Forrest: Could you explain more on the answer for number 4? To be able to do a HELOC or cash out refi to finance a new ADU, I would have to already have a paid off property that is worth more than cost of building a new ADU.

@Account Closed I plan to rent the house as a duplex/single family home while I live in a garage converted ADU.

I'm planning to buy a multifamily/single-family home in Vancouver, WA within the next year. I do not have a construction, repair, nor any handyman skills. Some beginner q's:

1. What are tips for hiring contractor to do garage ADU conversion?

2. What are the timelines for start to finish on an existing garage-to-ADU?

3. What should I look out for to avoid getting ripped off?

4. What is your favorite way to finance a garage-ADU conversion?

I'm planning to buy a multifamily/single-family home in Vancouver, WA within the next year.  I do not have a construction, repair, nor any handyman skills. Some beginner q's:

1. What are tips for hiring contractor to do garage ADU conversion?

2. What are the timelines for start to finish on an existing garage-to-ADU?

3. What should I look out for to avoid getting ripped off?

4. What is your favorite way to finance a garage-ADU conversion?

@Jordan Barta: Did you end up buying a Single family home in Camas? What is it like living in Camas, WA? Happy to privately chat! I plan to invest there for a househack.

Yes, I'm interested too in finding a GC in Vancouver, WA.

I know I'm not supposed to check my rental property on redfin this frequently but I checked today. The redfin estimate increased by 10k, which seems artificially too high. I think this is caused by the low housing inventory on sale in past 2 months in Cincinnati. Have you seen your rental property prices increased too in Midwest? Reference: https://www.cincinnati.com/sto...