All Forum Posts by: Kevin Koenig

 Thanks Mike. It’s the most logical answer but not the emotional one. It’s still very much my home here. But i get you. I’d listen to people complain about SF and think “dude just move, that place sucks.” But when it happens to your home it makes much more sense why it’s so hard to let go. My wife and I are giving it a hard stop at 1 year though and have a few ideas.:)

Thank you. I know, I know. I just have my whole family here in Cali, personal network and am really personally and emotionally tied to surfing and the ocean. It will kill me to leave. Even though on paper leaving is the most logical and clear answer. My wife and I are giving it 1 more year to try and make it work. If not, as you say the worst outcome is taking the money and running. Could be worse for sure, thank you for the encouragement! 

 Birdrock. My coworker mentioned this. I will definitely look into it. My emergency fund is a little lower than I’d prefer so I think I’d want to save some more prior to going the furnish route. 

I scrimped and saved since college with a low/middle income job and I finally got into a condo in 2020 at a 3.25% rate in Southern California. Fully remodeled it myself for about, I think, all in 12k. I got rid of the PMI last month and the assessment came back with 400k in equity with an initial investment of 50k. I've always aimed to use real estate as a vehicle to build some wealth since my career choice will never provide that. I'm also a recent Father and this 700SF place with no parking and shared laundry is just not doable anymore and I can't seem to figure out next moves to keep moving forward and not backwards on my real estate investing journey.

In March, I could have rented the place out for 5.5k a month but since then rents have fallen to 3.1k a month while my HOA+property taxes and mortgage total at 3.6k/mo. I can only assume this is a result of the tech scourge being recalled to their homeland in the Bay with full time work from home being increasingly rare. Regardless BRRR is out along with renting out the condo while renting a home in a less desirable area. Home rents have not fallen even in the undesirable locations of the city and have actually increased about 20% since March.

Additionally, selling the place and trying to house hack and taking advantage of the State's huge push for ADU's and JADU's does not pencil out. Rates are just too high and home prices here are ludicrous. The grant money the state was offering is also all gone.

Anything I’m missing or angles I can pursue? This place is small for a family and I don’t want to just throw out years of careful finances in the rush to just buy something, anything but I can’t seem to figure out how to make something more out of this equity.