All Forum Posts by: Sherwin Gonzales

@Jeff Hsieh, that sounds like a great plan! For my bathroom addition, I got at least three quotes from different contractors and I would suggest you do the same. Contractors' bids differ from city to city and sometimes their schedule dictates their pricing. 

I'm not sure if your home would have to be re-appraised right after the project or if it would affect your property taxes. I would suggest you consult a real estate broker or your lender. The reason I got my property re-appraised was because I was refinancing my loan.

I hope this helps and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions!

@Jeff Hsieh, thanks for sharing info about your potential project. I guess it depends on what your goals are? Do you plan to keep the home or sell after the renovation? Or maybe rent out the entire home? 

You mentioned that you might want to Airbnb the addition? And it depends how much you purchased the home for and what would be the ARV once the renovation is complete. I would check comps around your area that would have similar specs to your renovated home. That would give you a general idea of what your home would be worth.

I personally bought my primary residence as at 3/1. I added a second bathroom and got it re-appraised as a 3/2. The reason for the additional bath was not only to add value to my home, but so that my family and guests would have their own bathroom when they visit. Then I did a cash out refinance and used that money for my next deal.

Figure out what your end goal for house is and see if the value and time of the renovation aligns with those goals.

Good luck!

@Karen Margrave, great thread post!

I posted a similar post a few days ago regarding where people who live in SF now are looking to head to?

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/575953-people-leaving-sf-where-are-they-headed

• Do you live in California? Yes
• Have you lived in California in the past 5 years? Yes
• If so, where? Was in SF, but moved to Oakland 2 years ago.
• Will you be staying or leaving? Staying
• Why? Work
• What is your full time income producing job? Designer/ Wife works in tech, so her job is here!

@David Hutson, yup, that's exactly what my in laws did a few years ago. They are retired, was sick of the expenses of living in SF and got more of a house for their money in Elk Grove. Now they are enjoying their pool, their nice big house, and I get to go visit them 1-2 times a month and also get a chance to look at investment properties in that area!

@David Hutson thanks for your comments! Are your sales to people from San Francisco investors or people who actually are moving to live in Sacramento? I've met a handful of people who commute from Sacramento everyday to either SF or Oakland for work. It just seems crazy but with the high cost of living in SF and the rest of the Bay Area, people are looking for alternatives of where to live and grow their family. You can get a nice big house in Sacramento, but would have to sacrifice the time of your commute if you work in the city.

@Dan Handford Great posts and great advice @Jonathan Twombly!  "Get into rooms where you are the only person there who knows anything about real estate." I'm currently networking at meetups with other investors who have similar goals as me in investing in commercial multi-family. Since I'm just starting, my goals are to partner up with like minded investors to get deals to build a track record. Then I can comfortably talk about deals with individuals with money who know nothing about real estate. Because usually the one thing they'll ask is...so what's your experience?

@Willie Marquez I would be interested in joining seeing that I just purchased an investment property in Stockton. Thanks for offering to host and facilitate!

@Terry Lao thanks for posting this article and list. Speaking of lists, I posted another list the other day of people leaving SF and where they are looking to move to. See the thread below.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/575953-people-leaving-sf-where-are-they-headed?highlight_post=3474420&page=1#p3474420

Below are the top 10 places people are looking to move to.

10. Stockton, CA
9. Salt Lake City, Utah
8. Hawaii (my home state yah!)
7. Phoenix, Arizona
6. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. Austin, Texas
4. Denver, Colorado
3. Sacramento, CA
2. Portland, Oregon
1. Seattle, Washington

In bold are the cities that cross between the two lists. It's interesting to see who's invested in these areas or plan to invest and why.

The article regarding this list is below.

http://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-housing-so-expensive-people-leaving-2018-4

@Dan Burstain and @Bill B. appreciate you both with the numbers and insight! 

@Becca Summers, thanks for the info regarding Utah! I didn't know Facebook is planning on building a data center there? I did read that Facebook may move away from Silicon Valley due to the high housing costs.  Check out the article below. 

https://www.bisnow.com/san-francisco/news/office/bay-areas-housing-crisis-could-chase-facebook-other-tech-companies-away-89204

@Sam Josh, it seems I may have been misunderstood. I didn't mean to solely use these articles to base investment decisions. I merely posted this to start a dialogue and discussion about people's opinions regarding this information presented to us. In my personal experience, my wife and I have good jobs, good income, and strong career prospects and guess what? We moved away from SF to buy a house in Oakland. Now, we may be a minority, but according to the random article below, you would need to make an annual income of $303k to buy a median priced home in San Francisco.

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/income-needed-buy-home-San-Francisco-real-estate-12614111.php

But then again, these are just articles and opinions of the writers and like good investors we are, we should base do our due diligence and research on many different resources.

Hello BP universe!

I just read an article about people fed up with the San Francisco housing market because it's "too damn high" and are "leaving in droves!" 46% of residents plan to leave soon but where are they going? Below are the top 10 places people are looking to move to.

10. Stockton, CA
  9. Salt Lake City, Utah
  8. Hawaii (my home state yah!)
  7. Phoenix, Arizona
  6. Las Vegas, Nevada
  5. Austin, Texax
  4. Denver, Colorado
  3. Sacramento, CA
  2. Portland, Oregon
  1. Seattle, Washington

Just wondering who out there are already investing in these markets or plan to? I personally have investments in Sacramento and Stockton. I'm looking to expand to Las Vegas and back in my home state of Hawaii. Would love to hear about other people's experiences investing in these areas!

Check out the article below and let me know what you think!

http://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-housing-so-expensive-people-leaving-2018-4#2-portland-oregon-9