patrick.net

Boy, people expect ridiculous rents in the Bay Area these days.

More than double the mortgage payments? Seriously? To live in Oakland?

I have some friends just down the street -- decent part of Oakland.

That's a lot cheaper than 3042 Harrison:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Oakland/3042-Harrison-St-94611/home/1253529

Also a two-unit place, but each unit is a 2/1 of 1040 sqft. Rents are claimed as $1295 and $1445, both occupied. The owner is a used house salesman. I haven't done the math on ROI as a rental.

Also, did you see this place which sold recently?

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Oakland/3126-Harrison-St-94611/home/1515381

Also two-unit, both 2/1s of 900 sqft. Bought in April 2005 for $549K, foreclosed in October for $335,716, and re-bought in March for $152K. It's in pretty bad shape. Tax records claim it is a 5/2.5 with 1866 sqft, so it sounds like there may have been some unwarranted work.

uffthefluff says

To live in Oakland?

It's hard to characterize Oakland in one fell swoop. Have you ever been to the Oakland Hills? It's still "Oakland." So are places like Rockridge.

However, this place is likely cheap because it's falling apart, not because of its neighborhood.

$2,500 for renting seems steep to me too. Then again- I do know some people who are paying that kind of money for renting a house. There is such a thing as renters overpaying too.

I actually don't have anything against Oakland. Yes I've been to the Oakland Hills and the area around Grand Lake Theatre is quite nice. Had some really stupendous Chinese there once, better than any I could find in SF actually.

Just doesn't seem like people would be willing to pay double the cost of ownership to rent there.

Wow, I was just perusing some condos in that area on Redfin; looks like anywhere from 50 to 66% off peak pricing. I know they were doing a lot of conversions during the boom. I wonder if there's potential for picking up a rental -- HOAs in some buildings seem high, though, and the reserves are probably a disaster given recent foreclosures. That said, can't just let the HELOC sit there....

edvard2 says

$2,500 for renting seems steep to me too. Then again- I do know some people who are paying that kind of money for renting a house. There is such a thing as renters overpaying too.

It's a duplex. One unit is a 1/1 and one is a 2/1. $2500 doesn't seem that far off for 2 units, if a neighbor is actually able to get almost $2750 off a 2/1 and a 2/1 on a much more expensive place. You pay a premium for a 1 BR. I used to live in a building where a 1BR was $1500-1600 when a 2BR was $1850.

uffthefluff says

I actually don’t have anything against Oakland. Yes I’ve been to the Oakland Hills and the area around Grand Lake Theatre is quite nice. Had some really stupendous Chinese there once, better than any I could find in SF actually.

Yes, the Chinese food might be better in Oakland Chinatown than SF Chinatown. The best is in Millbrae and some of the nearby towns on the Peninsula.

Just doesn’t seem like people would be willing to pay double the cost of ownership to rent there.

But it's 2 units. Also, this price is artificially depressed because it's REO and probably needs work. If you fixed it up, even minimally, the rent doesn't seem that far off. The reason this place sold so quickly was because the ROI is massive, even if you only got $2200/mo.

I would NOT go to Oakland Chinatown for food even if their food is the best in the world, that part is NOT safe at all, just a year ago a Chinese was killed under broad daylight for no reason, random murder. And then another guy who was interviewing with Google was robbed and killed around there at night. Oakland Chinatown is a war zone.

OO says

just a year ago a Chinese was killed under broad daylight for no reason, random murder. And then another guy who was interviewing with Google was robbed and killed around there at night. Oakland Chinatown is a war zone.

I don't think either of those were in Chinatown. The former was on Telegraph and 19th or so, and the latter was at 19th and Webster. Chinatown is below 12th St, more around 8th or so. Both occurrences were sad events, and shouldn't have happened, but they didn't happen in Chinatown. Just because "a Chinese" is killed doesn't mean it happened in Chinatown.

$2500 in rent there is really pushing it, actually I would say it's nearly impossible for that property. I have friends that own multiple multi-unit properties throughout Oakland, the only way you will get more than $800 or so a month for a one bedroom in Oakland is if it is in the Temescal/Rockridge area, not in a dump on a busy street west of 580.