# 820 52nd St · The Rent Hacker

> Underwriting record for 820 52nd St (East Bay): the published verdict at The Rent Hacker's defaults, plus a calculator that reruns it at your numbers.

Canonical: https://therenthacker.com/property/rh-hqa2z4/820-52nd-st/
Source: The Rent Hacker (https://therenthacker.com/). License: RSL, attribution required — https://therenthacker.com/license.xml

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Evaluated

# 820 52nd St

Ahead of renting and index funds on our cautious numbers. Whether it has enough room to pass our bar wasn't measured here.

94608 · East Bay

Underwritten as of 2026-09-02 · record v5

**Published at our defaults:** House-Hack wins by $256,148 · S&P breakeven 12.8% · crash floor 0% full underwriting, cautious case

C+ C+ — wins the cautious case; the S&P 500 would need close to 13% a year to tie.

[Run your own numbers on any building →](/calculator/)

## The three cases

Conservative

Base

Optimistic

Verdict

House-Hack

House-Hack

House-Hack

Margin vs the S&P path

+$256,148

+$603,865

+$1,000,614

Rent while you live in one unit

$5,000/mo

$5,400/mo

$5,800/mo

Rent after you move out

$8,300/mo

$9,200/mo

$10,250/mo

Modeled appreciation

2.5%/yr

4.0%/yr

5.5%/yr

Repairs allowance

$15,000

$8,000

$0

S&P breakeven

12.8%

15.9%

18.7%

Crash floor

0%

\-2.1%

\-5.1%

Wealth at year 10

$1,368,019

$1,715,736

$2,112,485

If you sold at year 10

$1,310,480

$1,649,199

$2,035,704

Conservative leads; base and optimistic are the accompanying range, never the headline. Margin is vs. investing the same money in the S&P 500; the S&P breakeven is the yearly stock return that would tie it, and the crash floor is the yearly appreciation below which the deal loses. Wealth at year 10 counts home equity at full value; the sold line subtracts selling costs.

[Open these numbers in the calculator →](/calculator/#i=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) Every slider starts at this page's inputs; change any of them and the verdict re-runs at yours.

## Property facts

Asking price

$899,000

Units

3

Beds / baths

8 / 3

Square feet

3,848

Year built

1920

Property type

Multi-Family

Days on market

154

Neighborhood

Golden Gate / NOBE

Strategy lane

small-multifamily

Nearest catalyst

San Pablo Ave Bus + Bike Lanes corridor (0.79 mi)

Modeled appreciation

4.0%/yr

Unit count verified: 3 units, corroborated by county assessor records and the listing itself.

small-multifamily — Golden Gate / NOBE · 0.79 mi from San Pablo Ave Bus + Bike Lanes corridor.

## If the market turns

Modeled appreciation is an assumption, so we replayed this deal against history: every 10-year window in the federal house-price index for Alameda County (41 windows), each one swapping its actual price path in for our modeled appreciation.

History replay

Years

Ends vs the never-buy path

Worst window

1989→1999

+$9,799

Median window

2014→2024

+$673,388

Best window

1996→2006

+$1,946,172

None of the 41 windows ended behind the never-buy path.

Replay the 2008 crash as it hit this area and the deal ends year 10 $168,322 behind the never-buy path; the deepest point comes in year 6, $391,582 behind.

These windows track Alameda County as a whole. Within the county, individual ZIPs' realized 10-year outcomes typically differed from the county's by about ±1.2 points/yr — one zip-decade in ten differed by ±3.5 points/yr or more, and the largest gap since 1975 was 5.5 points/yr. A specific building varies more than its ZIP, not less.

## Where these numbers come from

Of the 11 inputs behind this analysis, 4 trace to evidence (our listing feed, area comps, county records); 4 are standing conventions; 3 are derived from other inputs.

-   **Purchase price**: our listing feed · corroborated
-   **Rent while you live in one unit**: our listing feed · single source
-   **Rent after you move out**: derived from other inputs here · single source
-   **The rent you would pay on the never-buy path**: derived from other inputs here · single source
-   **Property tax rate**: our listing feed · single source
-   **Unit count**: county assessor records · corroborated

A standing convention is a deliberate modeling choice we apply to every deal. We flag it rather than dress it up as evidence.

## Want this for an address you pick?

Every week we underwrite this metro’s 2-4 unit listings against the S&P and publish the [whole board](/board/), with the reason on every one we rejected.

[Or look up a specific San Francisco address](/lookup/)

## Want this analysis for another address?

Any San Francisco address, underwritten the same way — cautious rents, the registry, the S&P line.

[Underwrite an address →](/lookup/)

A full report like this one, for an address you pick: Underwrite an address — $79, delivered within one business day.

Record v5 · engine aafb236 · profile fha-house-hack

Next

## This is one row of the East Bay board.

The run of September 2, 2026 put every two-to-four-unit listing in East Bay through the same comparison. The rest of the board, losers and rejections included, is one page.

[See the East Bay board](/board/sf-east-bay/) [Underwrite one address for $79](/lookup/#underwrite) [Take the pass, $49/mo](/checkout/?tier=pass&r=eb)

In our guide to house hacking Emeryville: [Emeryville / North Oakland (NOBE) (94608)](/house-hacking/emeryville-94608/) · [East Bay guide](/house-hacking/east-bay/)