North Bay guide · Tier A · Rank #1 of 30
House hacking in Vallejo (Downtown / Mare Island).
The metro's most structurally interesting house-hack ZIP: the only one-seat SF ferry commute in Solano County, layered over an already-adopted citywide upzone, at the lowest price band of any transit-served North Bay ZIP.
Status check: Verified 2026-07-13: the upzone is adopted and the ferry is operating, but HCD found Housing Element deficiencies (revisions due Apr 2026) and the DVSP update is still at consultant selection, so designated capital is not yet flowing. Mare Island slipped: plan/EIR now 2027, Connolly Corridor halted pending sewer mediation. Tier moved S→A on that basis; the rank-1 slot held.
What's actually happening in 94590
- Operational, upgrade funded
Vallejo Baylink Ferry: daily ~60-minute SF crossing; the Terminal Reconfiguration Project (approved Jul 2024) rebuilds the float and pier for two simultaneous vessels. SF Bay Ferry / CEQAnet 2024051079
- Adopted
6th Cycle Housing Element upzone (adopted Dec 30, 2024): NMX corridors through the ZIP (Tennessee, Solano, Springs, Broadway, Sonoma Blvd) go to 25–50 du/ac; Downtown/Waterfront to 30–50 du/ac, with by-right treatment on Housing Element sites. Vallejo Sun / City of Vallejo
- Funded, consultant selection underway
Downtown Vallejo Specific Plan update: $1.19M consultant contract funded, ~1,100 units at buildout, spring-2026 kickoff. City of Vallejo DVSP
- Pre-entitlement: optionality only, never underwrite it
Mare Island Specific Plan: up to 14,000 units and ~15,000–17,000 jobs; draft submitted Oct 2024, EIR and development agreement now targeted 2027. Mare Island Co.
The numbers
- Median price
- ~$529K (most affordable transit-served ZIP in the metro)
- Market rent
- 2bd ~$2,100/mo (Zumper, Jun 2026)
- Property tax (Solano County)
- 1.21% median effective (new-buyer ~1.15–1.30%; Mello-Roos possible in new tracts)
- Per-bed rent band
- $900–1,150/mo per bed
- ADU rent band
- $1,700–2,050/mo
- Whole-home rent band
- $2,600–3,200/mo whole-home
- Underwriting vacancy
- 5% underwriting vacancy
- Appreciation scenarios
- 1.5 / 3.0 / 5.0 %/yr (conservative / base / upside)
Rent-to-price is the metro's strongest; sub-3% vacancy with muted concessions. Appreciation basis: Adopted upzone plus funded DVSP; ferry premium; Mare Island counted as upside only. Rent bands are city-level medians; confirm the specific parcel before trusting any of them. Run your own scenario in the calculator.
Buildings we underwrote in 94590
36 buildings in 94590 carry a record. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 900 Santa Clara St 4 units · $725,000 | +$1,024,256 House-Hack | Published pick #1 |
| 1110-1112 Marin St 2 units · $495,000 | +$207,705 House-Hack | Published pick #1 |
| 725 Louisiana St 4 units · $725,000 | +$771,727 House-Hack | Published pick #2 |
| 80 Frey Pl 2 units · $629,888 | +$339 House-Hack | Underwritten — beats renting and index funds, below the publish cut |
| 2609 Sonoma Blvd 2 units · $475,000 | −$5,498 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1345 Nebraska St 2 units · $535,000 | −$83,770 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 12 Daniels Ave 4 units · $950,000 | −$109,572 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 925 Virginia St 2 units · $525,000 | −$145,494 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 809 Dishong Street 1 unit · $439,000 | −$157,599 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 530 Indiana St 2 units · $549,000 | −$150,063 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 834 Georgia St 4 units · $850,000 | −$150,739 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1511 Marin St 2 units · $649,000 | −$172,671 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1152-1156 Louisiana St 2 units · $635,000 | −$178,051 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 300 Kentucky St 2 units · $595,000 | −$187,406 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1139 Ohio St 2 units · $580,000 | −$195,140 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1319-1321 Sacramento St 2 units · $584,000 | −$200,957 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1158 Louisiana St 3 units · $959,000 | −$215,592 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 308 Florida St 2 units · $599,000 | −$222,768 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1038 Alabama St 2 units · $525,000 | −$233,538 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 500 Calaveras St 2 units · $645,000 | −$233,729 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 926 Georgia St 3 units · $749,000 | −$247,463 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1313 Sacramento St 2 units · $660,000 | −$257,863 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1315 Tennessee St 1 unit · $485,000 | −$268,457 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 235 12th St 2 units · $550,000 | −$269,889 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 326 Arkansas St 2 units · $699,000 | −$271,112 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 827 Pennsylvania St 2 units · $749,900 | −$279,260 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 817 Alameda St 2 units · $575,000 | −$306,242 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 515 Grant St 2 units · $540,000 | −$348,969 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1044 Tuolumne St 2 units · $650,000 | −$347,095 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 409 Carolina St 2 units · $815,000 | −$373,922 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 734 Florida St 2 units · $825,000 | −$388,464 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 919 Santa Clara St 1 unit · $649,900 | −$422,236 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 231 Tennessee St 2 units · $899,000 | −$496,066 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 845 Louisiana St 2 units · $1,000,000 | −$642,932 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 514 Florida St 2 units · $995,000 | −$916,966 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 628 Kentucky St 4 units · $895,000 | — no verdict on file | Rejected — The listing states the per dwelling mix: the front building holds an extra large 2 bedroom house and a 1 bedroom unit, and the back building holds two 2 bedroom units. The run read the mix as unstated and split the 8 bedrooms evenly as 2+2+2+2, pricing four 2 bedroom dwellings. · Re derived at the stated mix, with the 1 bedroom unit priced at the 94590 1 bedroom band, the cautious case loses to the index at a breakeven of 9.2 years, so this row does not beat renting and index funds. |
The full board shows every region's current week; this table is every record we hold for 94590, newest basis first.
The house-hack angle
Small multi-unit (duplex or triplex) on or near an NMX corridor, betting on by-right density; or room-by-room and ADU plays on older single-family stock near the Transit Center for car-free ferry commuters. The older housing stock is exactly the parcel type the upzone rewards.
What breaks it
- Uneven neighborhood quality and perception, block by block
- Mare Island is a multi-decade story: treat as upside, never as the base case
- Verify admitted-carrier insurance (valley floor, low fire load, generally favorable)