Hi @Karen Gordon
I am a newbie investor myself so take what I say with a grain of salt. However I am also from Sonoma County and in the same predicament. Yes house hacking is the best cash on cash return hands down, but taking X amount of years to save up for the down payment seems like a real motivation killer in my opinion. After saving for a few years for my first house hack here, I have decided to change my investing strategy a bit and buy cash flow properties out of state. Otherwise I would have to wait another few years to buy that 700k house hack which just doesn't sit right with me anymore. This way I can get the snowball rolling even if it technically is not the best use of my money at this point. The motivation alone is worth it to me. However if you are REALLY set on house hacking in Sonoma County, there's always cheaper small multis (usually fixer uppers) near the Russian river area that go for around 4-500k. Just be careful they are not in the flood zone which is a huge problem there. I am a Realtor in the area so if you have any questions or just want to talk strategy feel free to PM me here. Best of luck!
