Buying First Property in East Oakland

[Andrew Brewer]

Hi everbody, I'm ready to take the plunge and purchase my first property in the Bay Area. My plan is to buy a small multi family in East Oakland and live in one unit while renting the others. 

I grew up in the Bay Area and just moved back after five years out of state. Growing up I avoided deep East Oakland because of all the horror stories I heard, i've been surprised to hear from some folks that the area is starting to turn around. 

I wanted to get some opinions from local investors about what its like to live/own in East Oakland. Is it a nightmare trying to be a landlord in this area? 

I am married to a (I think) beautiful woman and I want to be able to go to work during the day and feel like she'll be OK if shes at home.

[Chris Mason]

Originally posted by @Andrew Brewer:

Hi everbody, I'm ready to take the plunge and purchase my first property in the Bay Area. My plan is to buy a small multi family in East Oakland and live in one unit while renting the others. 

I grew up in the Bay Area and just moved back after five years out of state. Growing up I avoided deep East Oakland because of all the horror stories I heard, i've been surprised to hear from some folks that the area is starting to turn around. 

I wanted to get some opinions from local investors about what its like to live/own in East Oakland. Is it a nightmare trying to be a landlord in this area? 

I am married to a (I think) beautiful woman and I want to be able to go to work during the day and feel like she'll be OK if shes at home.

 Hi Andrew,

Drive around at midnight. No one can answer the "will we feel safe here?" question but you and your wife. :)

The #1 thing you hear about is car break-ins. Don't leave anything valuable and visible in the car, or containers (backpacks etc) that could contain anything valuable. This can be tougher if you have a hatch-back.