# House Hacking in Redwood City (94061): Downtown Redwood City spillover with a softer condo pocket · The Rent Hacker > Redwood City 94061 for house hackers: A spillover-of-downtown-Redwood-City ZIP: strong electrified-Caltrain access plus a moderate in-progress El Camino corri Canonical: https://therenthacker.com/house-hacking/redwood-city-woodside-plaza-94061/ Source: The Rent Hacker (https://therenthacker.com/). License: RSL, attribution required — https://therenthacker.com/license.xml --- [Peninsula guide](/house-hacking/peninsula/) · Tier A · Rank #11 of 28 # House hacking in Redwood City (Woodside Plaza / Centennial / Roosevelt). A spillover-of-downtown-Redwood-City ZIP: strong electrified-Caltrain access plus a moderate in-progress El Camino corridor upzone, at a mid ~$1.73M with a softer condo pocket. **Status check:** Verified 2026-07-16: the El Camino corridor plan advanced (the MULW-to-MUT zoning amendment is complete), and the consequential item is risk: Redwood City's rent-control measure formally qualified for the Nov 3, 2026 ballot by unanimous council vote. The tier held at A with that risk logged. ## What's actually happening in 94061 - Operational Caltrain electrified downtown Redwood City station about a mile from Roosevelt and northern Centennial, with half-hourly all-day service. [Caltrain](https://www.caltrain.com/station/redwoodcity) - In progress El Camino Real Corridor Plan (in progress): ECR frontage in the mixed-use designation, with active nearby projects 1330 ECR (updated June 2026) and a 2025 State Density Bonus project (26 affordable); the GBI Action Plan was adopted Jan 2026. [Grand Boulevard Initiative / SamTrans](https://www.samtrans.com/projects/gbi) - Mid-entitlement next door Sequoia Station TOD (in 94063, abutting the northeast) plus Downtown Precise Plan spillover; adjacent anchors include Sequoia Hospital and Sequoia Union HSD on the 94062 border. [Redwood City Pulse](https://www.rwcpulse.com/redwood-city-news/developers-submit-revised-plans-for-the-12-acre-sequoia-station-project-4540118) ## The numbers Median price ~$1.73M (Redfin; volatile single-month prints to ~$2.3M) Market rent all-bed ~$3,355/mo (Zumper) 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 $1,150–1,600/mo per bed ADU rent band $2,500–3,100/mo Whole-home rent band $4,000–4,900/mo whole-home Underwriting vacancy 4–5% underwriting vacancy Appreciation scenarios 2.5 / 4.0 / 5.0 %/yr (conservative / base / upside) Predominantly R-1: Woodside Plaza, Centennial, Roosevelt. Appreciation basis: Downtown-station spillover; the ECR upzone is still in progress. 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 94061 8 buildings in 94061 carry a record. 0 beat renting and index funds, 1 rejected; the rest did not. Every row links to its own page, with the numbers it was scored on. Property At our defaults Status [1440 Valota Rd](/property/rh-enamdl/1440-valota-rd/) 2 units · $1,500,000 −$803,740 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults [1612 Redwood Ave](/property/rh-ka56ws/1612-redwood-ave/) 2 units · $1,325,000 −$819,855 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults [1557 Ebener St](/property/rh-2er3bm/1557-ebener-st/) 2 units · $1,575,000 −$913,478 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults [1460 Kentfield Ave](/property/rh-x2rhxj/1460-kentfield-ave/) 4 units · $5,400,000 −$1,158,517 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults [1846-1848 Woodside Rd](/property/rh-20dacp/1846-1848-woodside-rd/) 2 units · $1,749,900 −$1,169,391 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults [1128 Ebener St](/property/rh-jlf2rh/1128-ebener-st/) 2 units · $2,149,999 −$1,554,930 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults [227 Madrone St](/property/rh-rno6kj/227-madrone-st/) 3 units · $2,650,000 −$1,711,268 S&P 500 Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults [177 Poplar Ave](/property/rh-ens4gr/177-poplar-ave/) — no verdict on file Rejected — Multi-unit strategy (3 verified units, the listing description) has no comparable rents in our research per our published methodology, and no per-unit or aggregate rent figure is stated anywhere in our listing feed or our own verified listing record (the listing text markets 'abundant rent' with no dollar amount). Cannot price without fabricating a figure the methodology forbids inventing. The full [board](/board/) shows every region's current week; this table is every record we hold for 94061, newest basis first. ## The house-hack angle The R-1 interior works through ADU and SB 9 only (no blanket rezone); mixed-use pencils on El Camino frontage where the corridor plan and the State Density Bonus stack. ## What breaks it - No in-ZIP rail: a walk or short drive to the downtown station - The interior is R-1: density comes from SB 9 and ADUs only - The Nov 2026 Redwood City rent-cap ballot applies here too; single-month price prints run as high as ~$2.3M This page is the standing analysis. The weekly part, actual Redwood City-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.