[quote=LeavingSD]….My husband and I have decided to relocate to the bay area. We own a house in Penasquitos that we bought a little over 8 years ago. Probably the worst financial decision either of us have ever made (I found this site after that purchase). At this point, we have maybe 75-100k equity, but the house needs cosmetic work….[/quote]LeavingSD, except for carpeting, most of the work which you describe here that your house needs are actually (fairly inexpensive) DIY jobs (some with rented equipment). You won’t be able to recover the cost of having all that stuff professionally done in a place like PQ (esp older PQ on the NW side), and ESPecially if you bought in 2007-08.
You state you’re planning on renting in the bay area. I would definitely fix all the obvious cosmetic problems before marketing my property if I were you to get the highest possible price for your property before you leave. You’re going to need that money because rentals are very expensive in the bay area … even those which are more than 30 miles from SF.
You will likely have some well-maintained and newly flipped properties for “competition.” For example, if you have greasy, worn cabinet door and drawer fronts in your kitchen, you can take those doors off and drawers out and sand them and re-stain and varnish them. You will need to move out your appls (if necessary) and clean your kitchen and baths thoroughly before putting it on the market. You can also rent a carpet cleaner (or just replace the carpet). You can rent scaffolding (if necessary) to paint the interior and exterior of your house.
It sounds like you may have purchased your house with cosmetic defects and never fixed them or maintained your home properly during your 8+ year period of ownership. You will have to pay for any termite tenting or remedial work on it in escrow, which could cost +/-$2K.
I’m sure you know that closer-in homes in the bay area, in general, are older than those in PQ (SD) and need constant maintenance and replacements should you ever decide to make offers on homes up there.
From the sound of your OP, it seems as if you guys aren’t cut out for homeownership. Either you don’t have the wherewithal or patience for DIY, or both. Hiring a “professional” for every single little task which you can easily do yourself is very, very cost prohibitive for the average homeowner.
I am a single female who has owned several homes in SD County in the last ~35 years, both with a co-owner and without. And yes, I do most of my own work myself and have raised kids (even while babies/toddlers) while DIYing and holding down a FT job myself :=0 So I know this can be done.
