It is a tough buy and hole RE market everywhere but markets like San Francisco are particularly challenging in the short term due to the poor cash flow (negative cash flow).  

Check the section 8 checklist and be sure you will pass (do you have a lead cert if you need one, do all your bedrooms count as bedrooms, anything weird about the house that won't pass inspection? 

Expect to spend a considerable amount of your time speaking to people.Expect to work dozens of hours/week with little to no immediate result.Expect most of your early interest from potential clients to come from your sphere of influence.Expect to go 3-6 months without getting paid (unless you do rentals which usually pay faster)Expect to be bombarded with distractions - mainly, people/companies marketing to you so that you choose their system for quick and easy buyer or seller leads.

This could let you start building relationships with others in your area (and potentially lead to joint ventures later) and to build up your working capital.

The concern is possible lead based paint.

All of these factors can lead you well into double digit and even triple digit net-worth returns on investment (NROI). 

I dont know what your contract was with your architect, but it sounds like, at least part of the problem, was they were expecting you to lead the entitlement process while you were expecting them to lead the entitlement process.

While there were reasons for my decisions, the important lesson is that time is the key factor in building wealth, and starting sooner leads to faster results along with growing opportunities.

This often leads to frustrated tenants, and unhappy tenants rarely stay long.

A-lister who designs for billionaires and celebrities.In the process of staying on top of our fundraising leads and using our existing fundraising momentum to finish the equity phase and move onto design & sales strategy.