., Both are good options, and the true answer is which properties become available to you and which strategy best fits the properties you can find. 

If it sounds too good to be true, then make sure that you take the necessary steps to ensure your own safety.

As mentioned in the other post, deciding what your true goal is as well will help you choose a market.

Have you ever been totally open and honest with a seller or agent and tell them you have no intention of buying the property and don't know the true buyer when you offer and won't tell them the price the true buyer will pay?

I always got the impression that he had a bad criminal record or never got his high school diploma/ GED equivalent or some other issue was preventing him from getting a license, because he was basically just brokering without a license but calling it consulting (I don't know any of that to be true for the record, that was just the impression that I got from his comments and might explain why he used a fake name?). 

For a lot of things you can just look up material costs and assume the same for labor. 50% material and 50% labor holds roughly true for the entire project, at least for me here in Milwaukee, your labor cost will probably be higher in the Bay Area.100-125k spread would be tight, even for me here in Milwaukee.

Congrats - do you ever think you'll expand a buy a true standalone STR of just happy with this current situation?

Tell us some more about the house hack is it a true multi family or are you just rocking with roomates? 

@Ken Halef very true that's it hard to find something worthwhile on market these days. 

Quote from @Dongzi Wu: I heard Chimene's personal bankruptcy has been denied, the receiver Charlie will have a meeting with victims early September, make sure you contacted Charlie and he will notify you about the meeting.Do you know if true I thought next meeting to decide that was Sept 6