So I had this crazy idea that we could renovate the house putting in a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment and also remodeling the carriage house on the property into a rental unit, and we could probably sell it and not lose money or at least have an income property were we could rent out the 3 units and we could move and my son could rent one of the units while managing the other 2. 

Why spend money and lose money when you don’t have to?

In case my offer is accepted and there is a counter offer in court and that gets accepted, do I lose my deposit?

@Roderick SimsWhat kind of Prop 13 rights are you worried about losing? 

Once a tenant falls behind in rent ultimately you will be forced to evict and will lose money. 

Currently my biggest fear is losing capital due to dishonest seller, issues with collateral file causing inability to collect on loan,..etc.   

We can shower together in our 6ft double head (with separate controls) for 45 mins & never lose temp. 

Make sure you’re willing to lose the deal over this.

 If I could do it over I would definitely buy a four family I started with the duplex then a three family and then a four family and I now do 4 families and larger if one person moves the only missing one fourth-year income versus a duplex where one person moves are losing half your income plus with the price point on a four family your depreciation and you’re write offs are larger and later on your net worth is higher

If I have just enough coverage to pay off the mortgage, but not enough to rebuild the home, I'm left with a lot and I lose the cash flow that the property was generating.