# House Hacking in Millbrae (94030): The only BART plus Caltrain cross-platform node · The Rent Hacker > Millbrae 94030 for house hackers: A buy-the-transit-node play on the Peninsula's scarcest asset, the only BART-Caltrain cross-platform intermodal station, wit Canonical: https://therenthacker.com/house-hacking/millbrae-94030/ Source: The Rent Hacker (https://therenthacker.com/). License: RSL, attribution required — https://therenthacker.com/license.xml --- [Peninsula guide](/house-hacking/peninsula/) · Tier A · Rank #10 of 28 # House hacking in Millbrae (Citywide, BART + Caltrain intermodal). A buy-the-transit-node play on the Peninsula's scarcest asset, the only BART-Caltrain cross-platform intermodal station, with ~850 entitled TOD units. A rather than S on a ~$2.02M median and an entitled-but-unbuilt pipeline. ## What's actually happening in 94030 - Operational Millbrae Intermodal Station: the only BART/Caltrain cross-platform transfer, the southern BART terminus, one stop from SFO, electrified Caltrain since 2024 and same-platform since 2021. [Caltrain](https://www.caltrain.com/news/cost-caltrain-electrification-increases-project-track-2024) - Adopted Millbrae Station Area Specific Plan (MSASP): adopted Feb 2016, amended Oct 2022, a ~116-acre TOD envelope. [City of Millbrae](https://www.ci.millbrae.ca.us/271/Millbrae-Station-Area-Specific-Plan-MSAS) - Entitled, unbuilt Serra Station (444 apartments in two 10-story towers plus 290K sq ft office) and Gateway at Millbrae Station (~400 units plus office and hotel on BART land), both entitled. [City of Millbrae](https://www.ci.millbrae.ca.us/259/Millbrae-Serra-Station) - Adopted; HSR conceptual only Downtown and El Camino Real Specific Plan plus the Grand Boulevard PD zone (2022). A future HSR stop stays conceptual and unfunded (draft multimodal plan targeted Dec 2026). [City of Millbrae](https://www.ci.millbrae.ca.us/263/Downtown-El-Camino-Real-Specific-Plan) ## The numbers Median price ~$2.02M (Zillow ZHVI) Market rent county lower-2bd band (ZIP-level rent not found; proxy flagged in the index) Property tax (San Mateo County) 1.26% combined effective average (range 1.08–1.52% by tax-rate area; purchase resets the assessed basis to sale price) Per-bed rent band $1,200–1,700/mo per bed ADU rent band $2,600–3,200/mo Whole-home rent band $4,200–5,000/mo whole-home Underwriting vacancy 3–4% underwriting vacancy Appreciation scenarios 3.0 / 4.5 / 6.0 %/yr (conservative / base / upside) Meadows, Mills Estate, and Green Hills carry the SFR mass. Appreciation basis: Intermodal scarcity; HSR upside is speculative and excluded from base. Rent bands are city-level medians; confirm the specific parcel before trusting any of them. [Run your own scenario in the calculator](/calculator/). ## Buildings we underwrote in 94030 1 building in 94030 carry a record. 0 beat renting and index funds; the rest did not. Every row links to its own page, with the numbers it was scored on. Property At our defaults Status [332 San Jose Ave](/property/rh-v3x29w/332-san-jose-ave/) 2 units · $1,488,000 −$1,291,352 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults The full [board](/board/) shows every region's current week; this table is every record we hold for 94030, newest basis first. ## The house-hack angle A TOD condo or apartment near the intermodal node is the sub-SFR-median entry; SFR plus ADU works on the Meadows, Mills Estate, and Green Hills mass. ## What breaks it - A ~$2.02M median; the TOD pipeline is entitled but unbuilt - SFO/FAA airspace caps height, and the HSR stop is purely speculative - Hillside topography on Green Hills and Highlands lots complicates ADUs This page is the standing analysis. The weekly part, actual Millbrae-area listings that pass the math, lands on the Peninsula board every Thursday. [This week's Peninsula board](/board/sf-peninsula/) [This week's Peninsula board](/board/sf-peninsula/) · [Read past Peninsula issues](/issues/sf-peninsula/) · [Every pick, on the record](/track-record/) · [How a deal becomes a pick](/methodology/) Data synthesized 2026-07-05, catalysts re-verified 2026-07-16. Mortgage-rate basis: 6.43% (Freddie Mac PMMS, week of 2026-07-02). Sources are the public planning documents and market listings named above, fetched on the synthesis date. Nothing here is investment advice; every deal needs a bindable insurance quote and parcel-level verification.