Next Move

[Ian Love]

I purchased a large bank owned 3,500 sq ft home in North Seattle in Sept of 2011 for $260K. The home has a mother in law unit which I have been renting for the last 2 years for $1,000 a month and was able to refinance to a 3.5% mortgage at about $1,400 a month. Based on zillow/red fin, the home is now worth $470-$500K. I looked into getting the property zoned as a duplex, but that doesn't look to be an option based on the location being surrounded by SFH's. Over the last couple years I have been able to save about $40-$50K which could be used for another investment property and have actually put a few offers on foreclosures and other bank owned homes, but lost out to all cash buyers in the area. Now that prices in Seattle have jumped so high, I am feeling like the opportunity to find another home at anywhere close to the deal I got on my first one is gone. I am curious if anyone has any creative ideas on how to leverage my current situation into a profitable next move. I have thought about potentially selling my current home and rolling the gain on the property into a 4plex and living in one unit, or using the money I have saved to purchase another property (albeit at not much of a discount likely) and having a friend or family member rent the top unit of my current home while serving as a landlord to the bottom unit and possibly helping to avoid any legal issues that could come from not being properly zoned. Any suggestions are helpful, I just feel like I am stuck. Thanks!