I would think the only time to become a landlord in the Bay area was 20 years ago. The rent to price ratio is 20% above it’s historical average, and I’d suspect that is a very conservative number.
Here’s a hypothetical investment analysis. You can argue the variability of some the individual items, but for a home valued at $500k, with a rent of $2,000 a month, the picture may look some thing like this.
Market or Appraised Value”$500,000″
Purchase Price “$500,000”
Initial Equity
Down Payment 10%
Amount Financed “$450,000”
Down Payment Amount “$50,000”
Closing Costs & Fees “$3,500”
Total Cash Investment “$53,500”
Interest Rate (30 yr Fixed) 4%
Debt Service (P&I) Monthly “$2,021”
Debt Service (P&I) Yearly “$24,248”
Net Operating Income “$12,841”
Less Debt Service “$(24,248)”
Before-Tax Cash Flow (BTCF) “$(11,408)”
Cash-On-Cash ROI -21.32%
Last two years price increases make investing a challenge now even in places like Las Vegas, where prices corrected by 60%, which is twice the drop of metropolitan CA.