I help Chinese, Russian, and Israeli investors in my town. 

I spent 1 month there back in the early '80's on my Aust. passport & also picked up a little of Russian by necessity.One intriguing issue I found in coastal construction, particularly the various early 1920's Mansions, was the structural failure of the cement used.

Account Closed  there are all kinds.... in our area we have a very big Russian community. and they are fierce negotiators and one of their favorite tactics is to on the day of closing when everyone has their moving trucks and life plans put together.. they want to renegotiate and take some amount of money off can be small 2 to 5k or more.  

English is my third language, I`m fluent in german, georgian, and speak a little bit of russian and french.

Money and corporations deserve more praise for peace in the world than all politicians and religious leaders combined - you'll see Americans working next to Russians and Muslims working next to Buddhists and Christians every day.  

See what's available and regs.Buying a STR in a city that is on the verge of banning/restricting them is like asking if you should try Russian Roulette.

However if you are REALLY set on house hacking in Sonoma County, there's always cheaper small multis (usually fixer uppers) near the Russian river area that go for around 4-500k.

It's in the auto repair business, where I had no experience, but the owner I'm buying it from had no prior background in it either, he was Russian immigrant who started here as a taxi driver, saved up enough to open up 3 shoe stores, but sold it all when his wife was seriously injured in a robbery.One word of advice.

I recently married with my beautiful (Russian) wife Aliya.

Speak Spanish, Russian and English.