618 Benton St

Santa Rosa, CA 95404

$895,000D-

4 bd · 3.0 ba · 1,632 sqft · Built 1940 · MultiFamily · Active · 29 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $7,086/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$4,693
• Tax + insurance: −$998
• HOA: −$0
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$1,488
• Net cashflow: $-93/mo
• Annual: $-1,117/yr
• Cap rate: 6.17%
• Cash-on-cash: -0.45%
• DSCR: 0.98
• 1% rule: 0.79%
• Cash to close: $250,600

Investor read

• This is a 2×3bd/1.0ba + 1×1bd/1.0ba units multifamily listed at $895k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-93 ($-1k/yr) — negative. Per door: $-31/mo.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $879k (1.8% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $709k (20.8% below list).
• It's been on market 29 days — a 2% lower offer ($882k) is reasonable based on typical stale-listing flexibility.
• Recommended offer: $709k (20.8% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• Local home prices are declining (-3.0%/yr); year-one equity from $6k of loan paydown is wiped out by about $27k of value loss. Plan a longer hold.
• Location reads 75/100 on livability (#112 in CA, #3,940 nationally) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: amenities A+, commute A+, employment A+; Watch: cost of living F.
• Santa Rosa High (urban): math 31% / reading 47% proficiency, ranked #703 of 1,400 in CA (top 50%) — families likely to look elsewhere, expect single-tenant / working-renter base with shorter leases.
• Zoned schools: Steele Lane Elementary (378 students, 69% FRL); Santa Rosa Middle (466 students, 53% FRL); Santa Rosa High (1,682 students, 39% FRL) — zoned schools average 54% FRL vs 22% district-wide (31 pts higher); higher-poverty schools than district average — tighter screening recommended.
• Watch-outs: built in 1940 — expect roof / HVAC / electrical / plumbing capex.
• Market conditions: Rents rising (+1.1%/yr); 250 active listings in the ZIP; 9 comparable units currently listed for rent nearby; rentals at typical pace (median 16d on market — plan ~3-4 weeks tenant-placement turnaround); solid renter incomes; 1,039 units permitted in Sonoma County in 2024 (185 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Sonoma County population projected at +8% by 2050 — modest demand growth; plan on rents tracking national, not racing it.
• Current owner paid $450k; list at $895k implies a 99% gain — meaningful room to come down on a strong offer.
• Climate carrying-cost: moderate flood risk — expect insurance premiums to compound above CPI over the hold.
• Cap rate 6.2% vs local median 2.5% in Santa Rosa — top-decile yield for the area; either an underpriced asset or a hidden risk that comps aren't pricing in. Stress-test before assuming the spread holds.
• At $7,086/mo this rent would consume 81% of the median local household income ($105k/yr) (locally 1663% of renters already pay >50% of income on rent) — very limited rent-growth headroom before tenants either downsize or default.

Questions for listing agent

• What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
• Can we see the unit-by-unit rent roll, current vacancy, and any below-market leases? What's the average tenancy length?
• What capital expenditures (roof, boiler, parking lot, exteriors) have been made in the last 5 years, and what's planned in the next 2?
• Built in 1940 — when were the roof, HVAC, electrical panel, plumbing, and water heater last replaced?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• The area grade is low — what's the realistic commute time and amenity access for the typical tenant pool here? Any planned neighborhood developments (good or bad) we should know about?
• What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
• What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.