Any House Hacking success stories in the Bay Area?

[Carlos Rios]

Hi All, Interested in doing a house hack in the Bay Area to kick off my RE journey off. One thing I love about BP podcasts are the interviews with investors and their stories. Any house hack success stories (or lessons learned) on house hacking near the San Francisco Bay Area? Thanks!

[Darius Ogloza]

The most intelligent move I ever made was buying a house in the Bay Area (Mill Valley) as soon as I could afford to do so in 1997.  We paid $445,000 for a 1,550 square foot ranch house with a backyard full of 100 year old redwood trees (saplings, really, about 120 feet tall).  We put 10% down on the property ($45K) and financed the rest with a 30 year mortgage.  My family back in the Midwest thought we were insane for buying a modest home at such a lofty price.  There was no way the price could go higher!  We lived there for 10+ years and then I made what turned out to be the second most intelligent move I ever made: I held on to the property as a rental when it came time to upgrade our living situation.  Now essentially paid off, the property produces about $60K net in annual income and would sell for about $2.2 million.