​ Buying a primary residence in the Bay Area vs investment rental

[Sarah Brown]

My husband and I are debating where to put our money in. Currently renting a house in San Mateo California and work nearby. In case we're to change jobs, they'll most likely be in San Francisco or in Silicon Valley. Staying around San Mateo is perfect for us. ATM, we're not able afford to buy a primary residence in our area. Houses within our price range are in Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward or San Jose. Areas which are either quite far or cities unfamiliar to us to settle and start a family.

My husband is from Portland, OR and owns a condo as an investment property which has worked really great because mortgage is practically being paid by the tenant. We are thinking of possibly purchasing a house in Oregon, either a fixer upper or renovated home and rent it out while we continue to rent in the Bay Area. In 2-3 yrs we'll sell it with hopes to have enough equity to afford a house we want in the San Mateo area.

a) Buy a primary residence in the Bay Area. Also how much more of a great tax benefit would we gain from the primary residence?

b) Buy a rental property in Oregon and cont to rent in Bay Area (tax benefit not so much)

[Jay Hinrichs]

Portland has seen a big run up for sure.  any chance you could buy a small 2 to 4 unit say redwood city or maybe daly city your close to San Mateo but less expensive ? 

I am a big proponant personally of getting your housing taken care of.

however there are rental opps over in Oakland and richmond .. that will cash flow

@jmartin who does the big Oakland meet up has done well with that strategy. rentals first .

my wife is a broker in PDX and we just sold two duplex's one sold at 375k the other 425k.. and they will break even or maybe cash flow a tad..