All Forum Posts by: Sandeep S.

@Derrick Dill - that's a great purchase and even better plan!  That's the way to do it in bay area (if one is able to house hack).  Congratulations!!

I have no experience so cannot provide any help.  However, I would like to learn from your experience.  Please share your journey as it goes. 

@Saman Jafari

If you are starting out, it is difficult to get an off-market deal (which are generally better).  Best is to research your area, and work with listing agents and non-contingent offers to get a good deal.  It is important to do enough research so you can have the confidence to tell what would be a "good" deal for any given property in your market.  

@Mikhail Petrenko

First - congratulations on getting a great deal in contract! $455k is a great price for 3/2 in San Lorenzo (even in the current environment). I really like your strategy and execution plan. Your rent numbers are fairly realistic. The biggest issue (not a big risk) is that you may not be able to subdivide the lot into two SFRs. It may mean that you can create 2 units on the same lot (and in that case you may not be able to add 2nd ADU). Even if you don't get to 4 units, you can get to 3 rental units and the strategy will still work very well. You may end up spending some more money and time on new construction than the numbers in your budget. And you may not be able to cash out during re-fi as quickly as you project. So keep fat margins in all of your estimates.

I also plan to add ADU to couple of properties that I own in the Hayward/San Leandro. I hope I can learn from your ADU experience! Good luck!

@John Sherwood - Thanks for posting the new ADU guidelines for San Leandro. I looked up Alameda County site and they have also published new ADU guidelines. These will also apply to the unincorporated parts of Hayward and San Leandro.

https://www.acgov.org/cda/planning/landuseprojects/documents/AccessoryDwellingUnitsHandout_January2020.pdf

@John Sherwood - The ADU laws have changed (significantly) starting Jan 1, 2020. One of the changed laws is that local authorities cannot have these stupidly high impact fees (schools, parks, etc.) for ADUs. They need to take the (small) size of ADUs when they assess the fees. So I am very hopeful that San Leandro (and all cities) will revise their fee lower. I would love to find out if someone has found out that info. As such I am going to find out in next few weeks (as I am converting one storage shed into an ADU studio) in Hayward (unincorporated county area)

@John Sherwood - I am happy to connect and chat over lunch/coffee.  I visit Hayward/San Leandro frequently.  

@Nhi Nguyen - Yes, I am still all the properties I bought in Hayward.  And I bought few more in the last couple of years.  It's a mix of single family and MF.  Lately, I have been buying more MF.  Will PM you my number. 

Welcome @Michael Tucker to BP and world of RE investing!    I am also a buy & hold investor and incidentally have been investing only in Hayward (and San Leandro) for the past decade.  I was able to leave my W2 4 years ago due to cash flow from RE investments.    There is nothing wrong in looking to invest in Sac market but don't ignore your home market!  And being in Hayward, you have an edge for investing in that market (which you will not have in Sac).  

Good Luck!

@Nhi Nguyen - I think we may have communicated earlier.  @Account Closed is right.  Passing utilities via RUBS is a great strategy but can be applied only at tenant turnover.  I generally start the RUBS pass through even if it applies to one out of four tenants.  As future turnovers occur - other units also move to RUBS.  In buy-and-hold, "patience" is a big virtue :)