What numbers can I change on rental calculator for cash flow

[Vidal Preciado]

Hi, I live in San Diego and I am wanting to buy a multi-family home but every time I put it into the rental calculator every property has come out to a negative cash flow. I tried messing with the numbers to get it to go positive but even then I have not had any luck. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if it's just the market here? Looking for a suggestions on how to House hack in San Diego with cash flow or even just break even.

[Maxwell Ventura]

@Vidal Preciado

Without a value add, the SFR & small multi-family will generally be cash flow negative initially (Or at best has minimal cash flow) when using realistic estimates for expenses.

Value add's can be in the form of rehab, adding/converting an ADU, and/or leveraging non-optimized zoning.

The SD market is generally a safer play w/ consistent appreciation (5.5% annually over the last 10 years), which is 1 reason why it is hard to see cashflow right off the bat, unless your downpayment is size-able.

You mentioned you're looking for a multi-family property. Purely as investment? Or have you considered house-hacking and living in one of the units? If you're looking for more privacy, there are may duplexes throughout the metro area of SD that are essentially 2 separate SFRs on the same lot divided by a fence. Of course, you can always install your own (A relatively inexpensive value-add) if the lot size is adequate. 

Hope this helps