So essentially this would involve us closing on the sale but having all of the documents held in escrow as opposed to being recorded publicly.  

It does make a difference when someone has been through the cycles, as opposed to those that are new just focused on whats working now.  

A lot of townhomes cover all exterior maintenance. 

They know that it sells just as well to be fresh and clean as opposed to current and trendy.

This strategy will only help to support your value in your farm and sphere.I also highly recommend door-knocking and dropping off a flyer or door-hanger, as opposed to putting all of your eggs in the direct mail basket.From an investor perspective, I know investors who have done direct mail have had some limited success by offering "all cash" for distressed properties.

I have tried to get as much information as possible to understand at what point the market is in but i'm getting everything from "Danger- SF bay area is on the brink of the next tech bubble crash" to "Safe- because of the amount of capitol available in the bay area the market is really only overvalued by 10% as opposed to a real bubble market which is overvalued much higher"I see that the multi-families available are definitely retail post flip prices, especially in the areas I would consider living in with a baby and many of those have rent controlled tenants.I'm trying to think creatively about moving forward weighing our $30,000 annual rent bill against potentially having a $600,000-$800,000 mortgage in a single 4 plex where it seems to make sense financial now but I'm concerned about market crash or unforeseen event.I guess my question is what would you do, invest elsewhere and stay put with high rent or dive into a bay area house hack?

They will have some strict guidelines in terms of exterior preservation. 

I have thought of that but timing is everything so it will take much longer to fund a conventional loan opposed to hard money.

Despite the rain we had in Houston recently, I managed to get the exterior repair completed.

Getting a HELOC, as opposed to actually refinancing, while you are an owner occupant of the duplex, and still going FHA on your next purchase?