It looks like Berkeley has some new rules about it but does anyone know how strict they are that it "Must be your primary residence?" 

We have a primary residence at this time only.

I believe the tax is waived if the buyer uses the house for a primary residency.

I have a document titled “Preliminary Rental Questionnaire” that asks a few of the more important questions from my rental application which I send to every single person that applies for my rentals, regardless of criminal history (we can see judgments against any Wisconsin resident as soon as we know their name).

Speak with your other neighbors around the house there, and get their impressions of that resident. 

This is my first thread on BP as I've been spending the majority of my time researching and reading on the forums, however I do have 1 quick question i was hoping you all could help me with.I intend to use a HELOC on my primary residence for my first rental purchase and through my research i've learned that banks like to see funds in a bank account for a certain period of time, before they are willing to accept those funds as a viable down payment for a loan on an investment property.This is interesting to me, because the obvious goal with a HELOC is not to use those funds until the last minute, since you are paying interest on them. 

I just moved down here about 6 months ago (right after Harvey) and I'm currently looking for a new primary residence.

Unless it is primary residence i would not advise to buy property in SF bay area.

I reside in San Diego, CA and stumbled across the BP podcast about 3 months ago.

We like to set our residents up for success.