Considering house hacking duplex in Richmond, CA bay area

[Rick Giuly]

Hello,

I'm considering this school house converted to duplex (1910) as a house hacking project, which I live in one unit and AirBnB the other.

Do you think this is a "good" idea. For those who know the city, any gotchas? For example, is crime not bad?

My goal would be to recover mortgage cost and pay net about zero. It's 359K, and I would use an FHA load at 3.5% down.

Location 318 S 35th St, Richmond, CA.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/318-S-35th-St-R...

Thanks very much

Rick

[J. Martin]

@Rick Giuly,

I did my first "house hack" in a 4plex in Richmond closer to the BART station, and still rent out 3 apartments on Airbnb there. Unlike @Rob Beardsley advice, (from Atherton, ahem ;) ), and @Kate R., and I think Airbnb would work fine there - especially 30+ days as @Sean Walton  mentioned.  (No offense Rob - I've just found that people from Silicon Valley tend to never spend time in Richmond, but usually happy to share their opinion about why investing doesn't work there.. - would be happy to listen to your reasoning behind your statement, although I didn't see the support. Kate, what does the city's rent control laws have to do with Airbnb? If anything, this is more reason to keep the units churning. Not less reason for Airbnb.. ?  If you approach everything as a hammer, everything looks like a nail.. but there are other ways to do it.. 

 My basis for my advice is that I keep 3 apartments about 85% occupied on Airbnb about a mile from this location, on 30+ day rentals. And while I'm closer to BART, I found that most guests are bringing their own cars and driving..  Mine are 2br, 1ba apartments. Have been doing it for more than a year here. I also own a couple single family homes in the lower-numbered streets in Richmond in an area that is "worse" than where you're looking.

Regarding the area, I think there's less crime there than at my place closer to BART. It's not fantastic. But not bad. You'll have to spend some time on the individual street. Especially later at nights and on the weekend. ..to get the real vibe. Ask the postal guy, corner store worker, and the beat cop also. It's also not too close (but not too far) from the train tracks. See what kind of noise there is. Not a dealbreaker IMHO, but something to consider in the trade-off. 

Also check the legal usage of the building. Looks like it was originally a schoolhouse, then converted to duplex. Have you been inside? Might be a little funky.. But the unfinished attic and basement spaces are a bonus. Maybe those can be converted to some usable space, or even another room or unit, depending on the configuration and time/money you have to put into it. If they're effectively 3br units, you should be able to get $2000-2700+ for 30+ day rentals. So that will make a nice dent on your mortgage payments.. 

I agree with @Jason Barnett that more and more people are discovering Richmond is one of the last affordable areas with a reasonable commute to SF. Currently 35min on BART. They're talking about the 25min ferry commute coming. Take this with a grain of salt. THere used to be a ferry running from Richmond, and it stopped because there wasn't enough service during the dot-com bust. I'm sure it will start in 2018 with all the new construction in Marina Bay. But I would expect the ferry service to stop or run into serious financial issues in the next recession in the succeeding years.. Just my 2 cents, based on history. Info

Not blessing it or cursing it, but just a couple pieces of info and things to check as you're pursuing it.. 
Best of luck Rick!