I like to think I am special, but I am not 
Generally what we see on CL is people are renting either upstairs or downstairs. I donât think there is market for the whole house as $6500 in Daly City. It is more like you rent upstairs 3500+ and downstairs for 2500+. I personally know 5 or 6 other houses that are renting ranging 5500 - 6800 total based on the room configuration. IMHO, Daly City works in this way due to able to rent two units, strong rent number due to proximity to SF, and no rent control.
So you purchased a âsingleâ family home or a multi unit? Sounded like you bought a SFH and converted it into a multi unit with an unwarranted in law downstairs. Thatâs what I meant when I said âcut cornersâ and âbending rulesâ. What if somebody decided to report to the city about the legality of it? What if tenant decides to stop paying rent and you have to evict him but knowing that the unlawfulness of this arrangement might give you extra headache?
Itâs much better to do things to right way and not cut any corners. Youâll still get the same great cash flow, less worry and less trouble!
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We are in agreement, nobody wants that headache. I stated that in my original post that to make it work you need to find a place with 2 units. There are a lot of units in Daly City with legal units, city went through and granted legality to a lot of units under âProject Home safeâ. And even today, city is into helping turn units into legal one, but the catch is owner need to be living in one of the units. I only go for legal in-law for the potential said headache. I rather pay extra 50K - 100K for legal bedrooms.
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Seattle has a good number of homes like that. In some cities, they divide what was a multi-story SFH into flats. Each floor is itâs own unit/apartment or whatever you want to call it. That configuration usually sells at a discount to a true SFH configuration. Youâll get slower appreciation, but you can get higher yield. You can always covert it to a SFH later.
San Jose has a bunch of homes like that near SJSU. At one time, they were large SFH. Now they are setup as multiple units to rent out. Those arenât even split by floor. A lot of them have 2-3 units per floor.
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Can I join too? 
Yea, I looked at those once. I think most of them are victorian houses that you rent to 8-10 students or working professionals. Very decent cashflow, but you need to rent out room by room, so it is almost like full-time job. And I am scare of maintenance on those older houses.
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Yes!
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I want to join the tour!
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Just sharing my view: I would not prefer sub-dividing or any other chances (at 50k or 100k expense) to make money unless it comply local law. All those agreements will be void when legal dispute comes and the entire net worth will be pulled into legal issue.
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Nice excel sheet ! I have similar ones, but this one looks great.
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How to tell whether a DC house has legal or illegal inlaw? If itâs legal, it would be almost like buying a duplex
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If my goal is good cach flow in 15 years from now, which option would be better for rental property? East/North Bay(good cash flow but less appreciation) or Peninsula/South Bay(bad cash flow but more appreciation)?
I heard that more and more people are now looking to buy investment property or expensive primary home. Jane is also joining the party now!
In the long term, location is the most important. You can look at both options and choose what you are most comfortable with holding for over 15 years
15 years is a long time. I suspect many posters bought houses only within the last 8 years
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Anecdotally yes. There is a mad rush to invest in RE rental 
in Bay Area⌠good or bad?
Warren Buffett, âBe fearful when others are greedyâ. Are we there? Stock market keeps hitting new ATHs⌠anyhow buy also make money⌠so easy⌠be aggressive and join the fun or be conservative and watch the eventual end of the party?
Pretty obvious since they seem so aggressive and optimistic⌠yet to see the carnage. I donât own houses longer than 11 years here but I did in Singapore, see the spectacular rise and the eventual dive!
In Day City, there is a report called 3R report that you can request from the City, that tells all the history of the house and what part of the modification are legal or not. Most of the listing agent already have that report.
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South Bay and Peninsula: bad cash flow is a reality.
North and east bay: appreciation might accelerate.
Conclusion: buy east/north bay.
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I owned my first house in SF since 2002. 15 years and counting!!!
Refer to the chart below, see anything interesting?
The lower-price tier has been appreciating faster than the high-price tier for six years. Compare with 2001 onwards⌠when would that be?
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Low tier will continue to outstrip mid to high tier until the next crash.
Low tier will be the first ones to decline and decline fast if anything wrong. I just bought property in Brentwood for $400k and with 1390sf newer home (built year 1985) with 3 bed 2 baths. I looked at the Zillow rental and planing to put it for rent $2450 a month after some repairs