Although my primary focus is to stay local and invest in the Bay Area.Since you are located in Cupertino, perhaps you would be interested in chatting more over lunch sometime.

The Bay Area market still has some potential in outlying areas like Vallejo and parts of Sacramento...but still falls short of the 1% rule until you move to multi-families and I imagine the neighborhoods will be a little borderline for most people in the country.Vallejo-SFR-$200,000 and up----Rent-$1400-1500SacramentoSFR-$160,000 and up----Rent $1200-1300@Jeff S.   

It was automated.Locally, in the Bay Area, we saw a tremendous number of startups, not only founded by the previously unemployed, but also by fresh college graduates.Technological innovation that resulted in automating manual tasks...

I love referring clients to broker in the bay area and Napa valley were I lived for 10 years... referral fee's on those properties are always north of 10k.. and that buys a lot of Avgas  pretty much my whole years supply even at 6 dollars a gallon :)

They have "conduct" rules that supersede rental agreements...That being said, you should strive to take care of your home and the tenants....many will end up being "single-parents" when their spouse deploys and won't have the extra money or know-how to keep simple repairs at bay.  

I'd be interested in seeing population shifts in the Bay Area, Account Closed .

@Steve Olafson   if one was in the Bay Area during the 89 quake and the war.. we had a mini melt down in RE prices.. that was basically regionalized.. many don't remember or knew of it.But BAy area prices even on the peninsula  and SF dropped 50%... far worse crash than the 07 to 09 slow down the bay area experienced...

Right now, living in the Bay Area, it seems unrealistic to purchase an owner-occupied cash flow property given the inflated market here (does anyone disagree with that?). 

If I'm not mistaken, Tapan is a member and currently is the coordinator of the club.Last month's meeting was guest speaker Gary DiGrazia from the Bay Area and was discussing probate's.

The situation in SF bay is similar to that in the south - SFR prices are high up and keep soaring.