Tough Decision whether to sell my one unit and buy more

[Brian Cassanego]

Hello,

Brand new here and would love anyone's input on this. I own a condo in San Francisco. Bought it in 2004 and it has appreciated quite a bit. I have a little over 1M in equity and I am currently renting it and cash flowing a little over 1K per month. Thanks to prop 13, my property tax is only around 12K, my mortgage rate is 3% but my HOA is now 1K per month. But still, I am cash flowing and I have a prop manager in place (as the rules in SF are clearly geared towards tenants rights and didn't want to screw anything up) and I have never once even talked to my tenants (they pay rent on time every month). This is as passive income as I can get. So, it's not a bad situation. And in SF, building new residential units is very difficult, and the fact that SF is a peninsula (finite space to build) and there are great jobs here, it should always be a great market.

However, I keep on thinking if my 1M in equity can be better served in a different market buying multiple properties that may appreciate more and generate better cash flow. I did recently take a 400K HELOC out in order to start buying in other states. I am def interested in Cash flow as well as appreciation. I recently sold my businesses (bars in SF) and will have a bit of money from those to bring towards the investing table. But now, my income is sporadic (Im a mortgage loan officer---got my license in 2020 when the pandemic hit and my bars were shut down--- in CA and business is pretty dry at the moment to say the least). My wife makes good income, but I would like to take the equity I have to generate nice cash flow and future appreciation. Just wondering if I should sell SF to generate a lot more money to invest in multiple properties and markets. I am not afraid of Long distance investing (reading David's book as we speak) and wondering what are people's favorite markets. And what people would do in my shoes. Thanks! and sorry for the long post!!

Cheers,

Brian