A 3-bed apartment in San Francisco is on the market for $488K. The catch? You can't move in for 30 years.

jzitser@businessinsider.com (Joshua Zitser)
·3 min read
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  • A San Francisco home that is listed for $488,000 is valued at more than triple that.

  • The catch is that a tenant already lives there and has the right to do so for another 30 years.

  • San Francisco is famously expensive, and bargain properties rarely come up.

A three-bedroom home in San Francisco is up for sale for $488,000.

This might seem like a bargain in a famously expensive city, where the average sale price is more than $1.4 million.

According to The San Francisco Standard, the home is worth about $1.8 million — more than triple what it's on the market for.

But there's a catch — the buyer may not be able to move in for 30 years.

According to a listing with Park North Real Estate, the property in Russian Hill, an upscale San Francisco neighborhood, has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and is 1,100 square feet.

However, it is also occupied, with the tenant having possible occupancy rights until 2053.

The listing said the tenant pays $416.67 monthly and will continue to pay the same amount throughout their time living there.

Speaking to ABC 7 News, Steven MacDonald, a landlord-tenant legal expert, said: "For some reason, they gave this person a 30-year right of possession. I've seen that before. It's kind of a sloppy way of estate planning."

He added: "They can do it that way. I think they should have done it a different way."

MacDonald said it would take a "very, very unique buyer" who would be open to buying the property below value while waiting decades to move in themselves.

Ilia Smith, who lives on the street, said the listing surprised those in the neighborhood.

She told ABC 7 News: "Thirty years. I don't think I'll be around for that."

According to the San Francisco Standard, the unusual sales proposition stems from a family drama.

The local outlet reported that the current tenant, 83-year-old Sandra Lee, lives there with her daughter Cheryl Lee, 66.

It is owned by Sandra Lee's son. Sandra Lee told The Standard he put the house up for sale against her wishes.

She said her stepfather had secretly arranged a lease in 2018, which secures her low rent and a place to live until 2053.

"If it wasn't for the lease that [my son] didn't know about that was made in 2018, I don't know where we'd be," she told The Standard.

Business Insider was unable to contact the son for comment. Park North Real Estate also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco metropolitan area is one of the most expensive housing markets in the world.

It was ranked in the "impossibly unaffordable category" in the Demographia International Housing Affordability Report.

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