Rent out vs. Sell 3-unit bldg in HCOLA

[DrRab]

Hello everyone,

I'm wondering if someone can direct me toward a good resource on this to gain some more information or insight.

Some family of mine have just finished remodeling and fixing up a 3-unit building in a very high cost of living area in CA. The initial plan was to rent these units out and for the rental income to provide a sizeable chunk of their retirement income. Unfortunately due to certain tenant laws etc and the difficulty they had with even getting the remodeling project started, they have been a bit turned off by the prospect of being landlords in a city known for its somewhat difficult rental laws. They are now considering selling these 3 apartments after converting them into individual units.

There's a lot more detail that could be included but the short version of the question is what resources (advisors or websites or books etc) would you recommend before deciding on selling vs still trying to rent out in a very high end RE market with laws strongly favoring tenants rights? One important detail is that only one of the units can be rented out at this time, with the other 2 become eligible for rental in the next 2 years

Not sure if I've provided enough detail to make it a useful case but any help would be greatly appreciated

[StarTrekDoc]

Conversion condo laws prohibiting entry into the market for long term rentals?   That's weird.  If unable to do that simple rental, doubt AirBNB is an option at all either.  So own-occupancy is only route available for the two other units?

As for rental protections; if higher end tenants, less likely an issue than lower SES  unless you're targeting high risk entertainment types.   All our units are in California and have pretty high tenant protections.  You just have to understand them and get to know your local rental association well to help out when needed.