Hello everybody,
My wife and I were lucky enough to buy a house in the Bay Area in a short sale. We got a ~1500 sq. ft. duplex for $400K and converted it to a single family home (after renting out on half for the first 18 months). Now smaller houses on our block are selling for 700-800K and the thought of making over 100% profit is increasingly tempting.
However, if we sell the house, we'd need a place to live. Renting in the Bay Area is almost as ridiculous as buying, especially for places large enough for our family of four. So, the only option seems to be that we buy in a lower COL and less-crazy real estate market. However, we have friends and family connections here (very useful for childcare, among other things).
We could also rent the house out for ~$3000/month. That would bring in at least $1500/month in profit. But, again, we'd need a place to live.
What's the mustachian way to approach about this? I know MMM might suggest just ignoring the ups and downs of the real estate market. Is that it? Or should we think about how to use the house to set up our 'stache (which is in between 150 and 200K at the moment)?
Thanks!
-El TD