24/7 Emergency Line · Answered by Roger
Foreclosure, layoff, family emergency — Roger answers his own line. After hours your message is texted to him in under 60 seconds.
Business-hours calls forward directly to Roger. After-hours calls reach a compassionate voicemail that's transcribed and texted to Roger in under 60 seconds. Texts to the same number are answered by AI instantly — Roger gets a copy of every conversation.
For Bay Area homeowners affected by AI workforce reductions
In 2025-2026, more than 200,000 U.S. tech workers were laid off or had roles eliminated by AI tooling, with the Bay Area carrying a disproportionate share. If you own a Bay Area home, your equity is likely the largest single financial reset lever you have. This guide is for deciding when to use it and when to keep it. Roger Grubb has handled this exact conversation repeatedly in the last 18 months. (510) 504-0402.
Who is writing this
Roger is not a financial planner and will not pretend to be one. He is a 18-year East Bay realtor who has been part of dozens of post-layoff household decisions. He brings the real estate math — net equity, time-to-sell, geographic tradeoffs — and connects clients to vetted CPAs, financial planners, and bankruptcy attorneys for the rest.
The process
Current value minus loan balance minus typical 7% sale costs = take-home equity. Most owners over-estimate by 10-15%. Roger gives you the real number in the first call.
6-month severance + 6-9 months California UI + spouse income, if any. That is your decision window. Anything inside the window is a controlled choice, anything outside is a reactive one.
Scenario A: sell now, lock in equity, relocate to lower COL. Scenario B: refinance / HELOC, ride out the runway, hope for re-employment. Scenario C: rent the home, move to lower COL, build dual-income optionality. Roger sketches all three with your numbers.
If the decision is "sell," Roger executes. If the decision is "wait," Roger sets a 60-day check-in and references you to a financial planner. Both are valid outcomes.
Cost
Nothing. The first 20-minute consultation is free and Roger will tell you honestly if selling is not the right move. He has talked owners out of selling more times than he can count.
When to call somebody else
The record
Fremont
Senior ML engineer, role consolidated into AI tooling, 9-month severance, $1.3M home, $620K mortgage.
Outcome: Decided to sell, relocated to Austin TX. Roger closed in 32 days at $1.34M. Family carried ~$650K in proceeds into a $480K Austin home with no mortgage.
$650K proceeds, 32-day close, debt-free
Oakland
Tech writer, role eliminated by AI-content tools, 4-month severance, $920K home, $480K mortgage.
Outcome: Decided NOT to sell. Roger referred to a financial planner; family did a cash-out refinance for 24 months of expenses, owner re-employed at month 7.
Refinanced instead of sold, re-employed at month 7
Berkeley
Product designer, role eliminated, partner still employed, $1.6M home, $680K mortgage.
Outcome: Roger advised holding. The dual-income spouse covered the mortgage during a 5-month gap before the designer found a contract role.
Held, re-employed in 5 months, no transaction
Frequently asked
Industry trackers (Layoffs.fyi, Challenger Gray) recorded over 200,000 U.S. tech layoffs across 2025-2026, with the Bay Area accounting for roughly 25-30% of that total. AI-tooling-driven role eliminations specifically (engineering, customer support, content, design) accelerated through Q4 2025.
Not automatically. Selling makes sense if your equity is large enough to materially change your financial position (typically $200K+ net), your re-employment probability is low or geographically constrained, and you would benefit from moving to a lower cost-of-living region. Otherwise, refinance/HELOC or rent often beat selling.
It varies widely. FAANG-tier companies typically offer 4-9 months, smaller tech companies 2-3 months, contractors usually nothing. Add California Unemployment Insurance (~$450/wk, 26 weeks) to the picture.
2025-2026 average: 5-9 months for senior tech roles, often longer for mid-career generalists whose jobs were the ones most easily replaced by AI. Plan for the long tail.
Bay Area median home prices are up 3.8% YoY (East Bay) as of Q1 2026, inventory is up 22% YoY, and days-on-market is down to 16. Selling now is roughly the same outcome as selling 12 months from now — the urgency should be set by your financial situation, not the market.
Single filers can exclude $250K of capital gains from federal tax (couples $500K) if the home was a primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years. Above that, federal long-term capital gains plus 13.3% California state tax apply. Most layoff-driven sales come in under the exclusion.
Maybe. Bay Area gross rental yields are typically 3-4% — below the 4-5% mortgage rates on most existing loans, meaning rental cash flow is often slightly negative. Renting works if you expect to return to the Bay Area, want to build a long-term portfolio, and have liquidity to handle vacancies and repairs.
In the last 18 months, the most common destinations Roger has seen are: Austin TX, Portland OR, Phoenix AZ, Reno NV, Asheville NC, and — within California — Sacramento and the Central Coast.
Call Roger at (510) 504-0402 for a free 20-minute conversation. Bring your loan balance, severance details, and rough timeline. You will leave the call with a clear ranked recommendation, even if that recommendation is "do not sell."
(406) 205-9003
Roger answers his own line. After hours your message is texted to him in under 60 seconds.