The Rent Hacker Subscribe free →

South Bay guide · Tier S · Rank #2 of 60

House hacking in San José (Berryessa / McKee / North Valley).

Owns the county's only operational BART terminus and its single largest entitled urban village: engineered growth that is already delivering rather than speculative.

Status check: Verified 2026-07-17: the city reached a tentative agreement to build thousands of homes at the Flea Market site, a commercial financing district was set up to fund ~$100M of infrastructure, and crews began clearing the site (700 homes, 280 of them affordable, in the first tranche). Progressing, if anything ahead of the doc; no change.

What's actually happening in 95133

  • Operational

    BART Phase I: the Berryessa/North San José terminus sits physically in-ZIP at 925 Berryessa Station Way, the county's first operational BART station, running since June 2020 with ~25,000 riders/day projected by 2030. VTA BART Phase I, Berryessa

  • Adopted

    Berryessa BART Urban Village: 270 acres, Council-approved 6/22/2021; capacity of 5,000–6,500 homes (25% affordable) plus 4.2M sf commercial and ~16,500 jobs, entirely within 95133. The single largest ZIP-specific density catalyst in the cached set; the city page was summarized via search, so the home count carries mild source-to-source variance (treat as order-of-magnitude). City of San José

  • Approved, phased

    San José Flea Market Southside Rezoning: ~3,400 units plus ~3M sf office/retail, the largest single parcel in the village; approved June 2021, phased. City of San José

  • Approved

    1655 Berryessa Rd (13 acres): up to 850 homes plus ~455,000 sf commercial; Council-approved. City of San José

  • Entitled, pre-construction

    VTA Transit Center TOD (Affirmed Housing, 3.3 acres): Phase 1 is 100% affordable, SB-35 entitled 2023, pre-construction 2026, with 600+ homes at full build. BART Phase II later extends south from this terminus, adding one-seat Downtown/Diridon access by 2035–37. VTA

The numbers

Median price
~$1,198,000 (2026)
Market rent
3bd ~$4,000/mo (metro by-bed read, confirm per parcel)
Property tax (Santa Clara County)
1.50% median effective (per-ZIP read, 2026-07-10; verify the TRA per parcel)
Per-bed rent band
$1,150–1,500/mo per bed
ADU rent band
1bd $2,200–2,600, 2bd detached $2,600–3,000/mo
Whole-home rent band
$3,900–4,200/mo whole-home (3bd)
Underwriting vacancy
4% underwriting vacancy
Appreciation scenarios
3.0 / 4.5 / 6.5 %/yr (conservative / base / upside)

Mid-range entry for the in-scope set, with the same tight metro rent dynamics. Appreciation basis: Operational BART de-risks the floor; the 270-acre UV and Flea Market buildout carry the base; Phase II adds the Downtown one-seat. Rent bands are city-level medians; confirm the specific parcel before trusting any of them. Run your own scenario in the calculator.

The house-hack angle

Buy an SFH-plus-unit (SB-9 or ADU; SB-35 already entitled the VTA parcel) in the walkshed of an operational BART terminus with a 270-acre urban village maturing around it. Tenants: East Bay and SF BART commuters plus North SJ tech workers. Hillside overlay only touches the eastern foothill fringe.

What breaks it

  • Berryessa UV buildout is phased over 10–20 years: near-term supply is incremental
  • The Flea Market redevelopment displaces a beloved institution; community and entitlement friction is possible
  • McKee-corridor parcels vary in desirability block to block