Starting out in real estate is exciting but it's totally normal to feel a bit apprehensive about taking on debt.

Hi Siyi, something powerful that you can keep in the back of your mind: My understanding of California's ADU law is that it requires all municipalities to allow conversion of any single family home (SFR) garage into an ADU.You mentioned that you're looking to house hack but don't feel comfortable having renters in your space.

So, while you are leveraging the properties when you cash-out refi, you are not as much at risk as you may feel because you always either have a pile of cash on hand or a bunch of equity in the next deal.

For many people, they feel good insurance is enough.

I feel it might be something I will need to tape into due to a recent issue with terminating a tenant. 

It started to feel like the tail was wagging the dog and I was only making investment decision to defer capital gains.  

If anyone would like to connect feel free to reach out.

I talked to a 1031 exchange firm but left the conversation feeling more confused.

You're looking for a plausible answer based on analytics, not opinion or “feelings.”Tell me about the tenant pool you target. - Understanding the existence of tenant pools and their characteristics is not common knowledge.

But, ultimately, its up to you as to what you feel comfortable.Hope this helps.