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Category: House Hacking

An image of Joe Dickerson next to a badge awarded to the Top 100 Real Estate Agents in the Uited States.
Buying A Home

The Joe Dickerson Group Is Selected As One of America’s Top 100 Real Estate Agents®

OAKLAND, Calif., March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Joe Dickerson Group, an award-winning Oakland and East Bay real estate team focusing on helping Bay Area buyers, sellers, and investors to build wealth through real estate, has been selected as one of America’s Top 100 Real Estate Agents®. Selection to America’s Top 100 Real Estate Agents® is by invitation only. It is reserved to identify the nation’s most esteemed and skilled Real Estate Agents and Brokers with a history of routinely selling homes above market value. Less than one percent (1%) of active Real Estate Professionals in the United States will receive this honor — indeed, the most exclusive

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Buying A Home

How To Find A Real Estate Agent You Can Trust

When I was in fourth grade, I had a teacher who had a reputation for being brutal. She had been teaching a long time and certainly knew how to teach, but she wasn’t exactly what you’d call a nice teacher. I remember looking at my friends in the other fourth grade classes, laughing and seemingly having a great time, while my teacher was very strict and demanding and continued to pile on the homework.  Ultimately, we were all learning the same concepts and skills, but the experience was vastly different from one classroom to the next. This is the same

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Buying A Home

Case Study: House Hacking a Duplex in Oakland

Are you wondering how you can possibly afford a home here in the very pricey San Francisco Bay Area? Saving enough for a down payment on a million-dollar home could take a very, very long time. That’s why house hacking can be a great solution to affording a home despite the high prices here in the Bay Area. And in fact, it’s something that we on the Joe Dickerson Group team do ourselves! House hacking is when you buy a multi-unit property like a duplex, live in one unit, and rent out the other(s). In doing so, you get to

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Buying A Home

With Rent Control And High Prices, Is House Hacking Still Realistic?

People ask if house hacking is still a realistic and viable option in the Bay Area given our high price points and continued move towards tenants rights and rent control. We believe wholeheartedly that it is. It may not result in ‘free’ living right away, but we believe it’s far better than the alternative. Our clients who end up in successful house hack situations keep their monthly housing expenses far lower than if they had continued to rent or bought a single family home. Add that to the long term benefits of owning real estate, and these folks are in

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Buying A Home

House Hacking Case Study

In this blog, we’re going to walk through a case study of one of our past clients who have chosen to house hack. Earlier this year, our clients – we’ll call them Jim and Gabby – were looking to make the move into a more permanent home from a rented apartment. With their two young children, their goal was to find a 2 or 3 bedroom house and they hoped to stay in a good commuting location either east of Lake Merritt or along 580 in East Oakland. Their budget of 650,000 dollars proved challenging in their target neighborhoods, so

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Buying A Home

Frequently Asked Questions About House Hacking

We have a passion for helping people build wealth through real estate and one of our favorite ways to do that is through a strategy called house hacking. We’ve helped many of our clients purchase homes and benefit from house hacking. Over the years we’ve answered a multitude of questions regarding house hacking and we’d like to share some of our top frequently asked questions with you!  So in this blog, we’ll answer some of the most common questions we get regarding house hacking, which, simply put, is purchasing a small multi-unit property, living in one unit and renting out

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Buying A Home

Is House Hacking Right For You

We have a passion for helping people build wealth through real estate and one of our favorite ways to do that is through a strategy called house hacking. While my wife and I have done numerous house hacks over the years, I’m the first to admit it’s not for everyone. So in this article, we’ll help you determine whether house hacking is right for you. We’ll look at things you should consider before house hacking, the pros and cons of house hacking, and at least one scary story from my experience as a landlord. But first, in case you don’t

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Buying A Home

What is House Hacking?

House hacking is typically the purchase of a multi-unit property with the intention of occupying one unit and renting the remainder in order to reduce the overall housing expense while simultaneously building wealth. That’s a mouthful! And it’s only one of many definitions. In my work with clients, typically we’re talking about the above definition, which said more simply, is living in a duplex, etc that you own while renting out the other units. Though more broadly the term can be used to mean producing income out of a house you live in potentially be renting rooms, garage space, gardening

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Buying A Home

Why should I invest in real estate?

I love talking about investing in real estate with new or first-time investors in Oakland. What’s cool about real estate is that it nearly always fits investors’ goals and should become part of an investment strategy. It’s usually some combination of five main reasons: cash flow, appreciation, equity, leverage, tax benefits. Cashflow Real estate as an investment often produces income through rent. After subtracting expenses and mortgage payments, you’re left with cash flow. It’s a good thing. I love it and you will too.  Appreciation Appreciation is the increase in value. This is where much of the wealth in real

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