All Forum Posts by: Danielle R.

Root cause is the slide area and estimate of having to do $25,000 just for soil test to find out where (or if) there is solid ground. Working against me is original report from 2012 was done by "most highly regarded " structural engineer in Berkeley. Report is "scathing" as one agent put it, suggests only lasting way to go is floating foundation. So far I have only one contractor bid for perimeter foundation for 70k but with only 1 year warranty which makes me nervous. Maybe there are less expensive contractors who do quality work but no idea how to find them. We got these reports initially to get the best deal but now working against me in terms of disclosure when selling. Do I milk this property further for income to save up cash? Or get out now before a market correction leading to substantial drop in value? Honestly this whole experience had been a headache from the start. I'm in the crazy Bay Area market and the median income to rental and market price makes me sick. Most people (myself included) can't afford to live here at current price points and I can't imagine how that is sustainable long term.

Yes, right now I have option between 1031 and primary exclusion. Time is a consideration, as well as the potential to go over limit on capital gains if do the major repairs. I would like to get multiple bids. Is anyone familiar with the area and trusted contractors?

Hello

I found BiggerPockets by chance and am very happy to have found this great source for education and networking. 

I have a single family rental (2 bed/1bath) in Berkeley, CA that I bought in 2013. I lived in it for two years as my primary and have been renting since  I moved to SF, mostly via airbnb. Vacancy rates have killed my returns and I'm currently cash flow negative. I'm trying to figure out my next steps. 

The house has appreciated nicely but it has some major structural problems with the foundation. I'm trying to determine if it is worth my attempting to fix the foundation (and possibly adding an in-law via garage conversion) or selling "as is" for a high discount. 

The realtors I've met with so far are telling me I won't get any ROI on fixing the foundation as we are looking at between $100,000-$300,000 worth of work on top of being in a slide area turing off potential buyers. It is in an A+ neighborhood and most houses around here are worth over 1mm so it pains me to have to sell at such a discount.

I would love some advice: referrals to contractors, property management, or real estate agents. Ideally, I would fix the foundation, add the in-law, and sell for positive ROI then redeploy out of state. But maybe that's not possible and I just need to cash out now for whatever the market can bear.

I'm also OK with hanging onto it for another year or so for rental income if I can find a good property manager to take over the day to day rental management but I'm worried about getting locked into a long term tenant with Berkeley rent control laws being so strict. 

Any advice welcome!

Thank you,

Danielle