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Category: House Hacking

Buying A Home

Real Estate Lingo Deciphered: What’s a “Comp?”

From Ikea product hacks to painting kitchen cabinets and refinishing countertops, Americans are absolutely hooked on the DIY craze. There are some things, however, that only a pro should tackle and that includes determining a home’s current market value. In fact, a National Association of Realtors’ survey of for-sale-by-owners found that determining an accurate price for their home was the homeowner’s most challenging task. Pricing your home too high or too low are both disastrous to your pocketbook. Real estate agents and professional appraisers pretty much use the same process to determine a home’s market value. The purpose behind the

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House Hacking

Why We Sold a Cash-Flowing Duplex in Oakland

Cash flow is a wonderful thing, and it’s one of the main reasons many people get into real estate investing. When my wife and I first started investing in real estate over a decade ago, our realtor at the time told us that, if we played our cards right, took care of our property, and held it long enough, we might be able to get it to be “cash flow positive” one day. We didn’t really know what that meant at the time, but we were on board to try. Fast forward to today. We’ve now invested in multiple markets

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Buying A Home

Home Buying 101: The Oakland Edition

I bought my first home when I was 21 years old. I was scared out of my mind and wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing. The home buying process seemed simple enough, yet there were a lot of little steps, and a TON of paperwork. I was extremely fortunate to have had a great real estate agent advocating for me and guiding me through the process. He gave me his honest opinions without being too pushy. And he even entertained my crazy fixer upper ideas. 🙂 Flash forward to today. I’ve now been through the home buying process

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Buying A Home

Multigenerational Housing Tips

The industry that brought you the iconic “location, location, location” has a new one for you: “multigenerational housing.” No, it’s not a new concept, but housing that caters to several generations under one roof is gaining in popularity. We started seeing the demand during the recession, when unemployment propelled younger workers back to Mom and Dad’s house. Then, there’s the fact that millennials are tending to put off marriage and remain at home longer, according to Diana Olick at CNBC. Immigration is also a driver of the multi-gen housing market. “In Asian and Hispanic cultures, multigenerational living is usually the

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Buying A Home

Multi-Family Property Analysis: How Much Would It Cost You To Live In This House?

A few weeks ago, I wrote this Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Investing in Oakland, in which I detailed how to invest in small multi-family properties using a technique called house hacking, in which you live in one unit and rent out the other(s), having your tenants help pay down your mortgage. However, though it all sounds good in theory, I know that it can be quite daunting to take that first step. How do you find the right property? How do you analyze the numbers to make sure it makes sense? How do you deal with being a landlord?

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Buying A Home

Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Investing in Oakland

Sign up for our Intro to House Hacking Class IN-PERSON ON DEMAND Update 4/5/2022: Since writing the original version of this article, we’ve helped over 50 families use this strategy to get into a home in an increasingly challenging market. Our passion has led us to creating a free, online masterclass so we can reach more people. You can sign up anytime here: https://joedickersongroup.com/house-hacking/ I live in North Oakland, one of the hottest neighborhoods in the Bay Area. Homes here are routinely listed near a million dollars and sold for over a million. I’m not one of those people who bought

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