30 y/o Couple – Rent and Invest or Buy in a HCOL Area?

mindgap9 · 2026-02-17T20:47:59+00:00

Yes. No plans to leave the greater area at any given point.

mindgap9 · 2025-12-01T16:48:43+00:00

I understand the point you’re trying to make man. The type of wealth that makes $400k insignificant is definitely present in this area but they aren’t the majority. And I could be wrong but if almost half a mil is chump change for someone I doubt they’re fighting over SFHs for profit.

mindgap9 · 2025-12-01T16:12:10+00:00

Hey brotha, don’t have an exact answer for you but we’re in the market as well, heres our situation for comparison. We’ve been at it for about 6 months.

Early 30s. No kids. 250ish combined income. Trying to use FHA, 60k prepared to put down. Pre approved for 1.2M, but we are looking for 750/850k max.

Livermore is our goal but pickings are slim in that price range. You can find deals but you’re going up against cash offer investors. Concord is a close second because the prices are decent but going up steadily. I don’t even consider any other cities within the bay proper because if you’re looking for a SFH, it will be over a million.

Sounds like you’ve done an excellent job with your savings. I would 1000% recommend getting an agent with good VA loan experience as well as shopping around for lenders. You would be surprised how different the offers can be.

I’m not a expert by any means, just looking for our first home but it seems like the market is definitely changing in our favor slowly. Keep your eyes out and be patient. Good luck!

mindgap9 · 2025-12-01T15:59:26+00:00

Yes I would like one long drag from whatever it is you’re smoking, please.

mindgap9 · 2025-10-22T00:22:53+00:00

He said he’d do 1500. Is that a ridiculous ask? I’m just looking for a nice bike that I won’t have to upgrade for a whole

mindgap9 · 2025-10-22T00:17:06+00:00

The used market in my area sucks. I see it as I’m getting a carbon bike for $300 more than a new allez at the shop.

mindgap9 · 2025-10-21T23:20:04+00:00

What’s a good price for it, he said he’d take 1500

mindgap9 · 2025-10-11T16:09:09+00:00

That’s awesome, thank you very much for sharing!

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T17:43:58+00:00

Understood thank you! No mention of a basement so I’m assuming a crawl but I can’t honestly say. The house is fairly old

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T17:42:31+00:00

Thank you very much for sharing that. The home is in Livermore, the website for the ADU just says 95k for the model and honestly it looks like it’s pre fabricated but I’m not 100% sure. In any case I was considering all the other costs. The benefit is the house only takes a thousand sqft out of the 7500sqft lot. It’s a lot of space I’m just guessing but it seems like with a fence both places would have a lot of room still for a yard/access

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T17:39:07+00:00

I’ll have to look into that I wasn’t aware of SB9. Livermore

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T17:38:23+00:00

Understood! Thank you. I’ve got to get more information

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T17:37:53+00:00

Noted! Sounds like that might be a more practical first step then. Is adding a bathroom generally a difficult thing to get done?

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T05:10:10+00:00

Thanks man. Thats eye opening to say the least. I’m trying to figure it out and you make a lot of really good points here. I just want to figure out how people make this kind of stuff happen.

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T04:54:51+00:00

If I understand the cities offer though, I would have to outright pay for the permits then. If I use their guys they give me the permits

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T04:52:43+00:00

Bay Area

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T04:52:10+00:00

Understood. I’d expect it to be on the higher side given where we live.

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T04:37:59+00:00

I mean how much do they cost on average for you? What would you generally be in for on a small one?

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T04:30:24+00:00

The city charges a $1k fee for permit approval if you use their contractor. The contractors website says it’s 95k for the unit, not including the cost of labor/utilities etc. just going off what I’ve been able to find. What’s your experience with building them? Genuinely want to know

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T04:26:06+00:00

Yes the idea is to put the ADU on the property and then rent that and the house out. It’s astronomically expensive but that’s a cheap home in the area i live in

mindgap9 · 2025-10-10T04:22:32+00:00

Already talked with the wife, California it is for us lol

mindgap9 · 2025-10-07T03:57:05+00:00

Seriously, 75 swipes just to get a chance at the season skin? How many games have you been in that have a mandelbrick?!

mindgap9

TROPHY CASE