Building wealth w/ 4 rentals in San Jose.

[Andrew Koster]

I am going to try and keep this somewhat short yet detailed as much as possible. My family's portfolio includes three homes located in Little Portugal in San Jose. The first unit is a 2/1 SFH on .40 of an acre with a basement. The second unit is a duplex with a 3/2 and a 2/2 both with attached garages. The third unit is a 2/1 SFH with a detached garage. These three properties are all next to each other which makes them convenient to manage but I live in Northern California. We have a renter moving back to Germany after 15 yrs on the first property. His rent has been at $1200, way below market value. The 2/2 of the duplex has been empty for 20+ years. It is like a time capsule. My grandma has lived on the 3/2 side of the duplex since my grandpa built the home. We are currently looking to move her up to where I live near Chico, CA and get both units in the duplex renting. The third unit is under housing authority and has been for a very long time. The rent on this unit is also well below the market rent at $1200 as well.

I am trying really hard to figure out what our best investment strategy is. All of the homes are currently in my grandma's name in a revocable trust but she does not want to deal with the homes anymore after my grandpa passed. I would really like to get multiple doors on the .40 acre parcel long term but we would likely need to pull equity out of the other properties to construct this option. It just seems like a lot of undeveloped land that can be taken advantage of with the renter moving out at the end of the month.  I would like to talk to someone who understands the Bay Area market well and provide my family with good feedback and suggestions on our journey, any references for an investment strategist are welcomed. Thank you in advance.