Buying & Living in a Multi-Family in Sonoma County

[Davin Thrasher]

Hello All,

I'm interested in buying a 2+ unit home to live in and rent out the other unit in the next 3-6 months in my area, Sonoma County, CA. I see this as a long term buy and hold property, and something I will likely only live in for another 18-24 months before moving elsewhere and renting out my unit.

 I'm curious if anyone else is doing this, has done it, and has any thoughts to share. In particular, some of my questions are:

1) Preferences or pros & cons to finding a place with existing tenants vs empty and needing renovation to have tenants move in (including myself). I have a tolerance for renovations, but would prefer something that has the least cost to move in to. Understandably, there will be a balance to be reached between buying a property below retail that is decent enough to move into, vs buying a property well below retail that needs some medium to major renovations.

2) Using rental income for loan approval. I understand FHA loans allow up to 75% of rental income to count towards personal income as long as the unit is rented, but I'm curious what other options or outcomes are there if its not an FHA loan, or the tenants are not in there, and in particular, curious if anyone in Sonoma County has dealt with this and can recommend a mortgage company that is flexible with this.

3) This would be my first multi-family property and I'd like to know any particular issues to try to avoid if anyone has an experience with problems or challenges with their first multi-family in the first year or two.

4) Lastly, any thoughts on market corrections on the near horizon? Should I wait a year to see what happens or get in now if I can get a hilariously good deal.

Thanks ya'll!

Davin