12/04/2024
A home in San Francisco's Russian Hill sold for just $488,000—far below the city's $1.2M median list price and its $1.4M estimated value.
The catch? The buyer can't move in for the next 30 years.
According to the listing, the property is currently tenant-occupied under San Francisco’s tenant protection laws, and the current lucky occupant, who pays an incredibly low monthly rent of $417, signed a lease that locked in strict rent controls and grants occupancy rights extending until 2053.
The home's listing revealed its previous owner, a man over 100 years old, had died of natural causes inside. The news sparked major intrigue, with neighbors recalling crowds lining up to glimpse the unique property.
One neighbor, Ilia Smith, told ABC News, “My husband said, ‘You’ve got to see this—there’s a line stretching down the block.’”
The San Francisco Standard later reported the house was at the center of a family feud. It was listed by Todd Lee, the son of current tenant Sandra Lee, without her consent. Sandra claims Todd was unaware of a binding lease her late father, Kenneth Goo, had added to her rental agreement in 2018.
“If not for that lease, I don’t know where we’d be,” Sandra told the outlet, describing her son’s actions as “deception” and “betrayal.” Kenneth and his wife Florence, who bought the home in the 1970s, both passed away there in 2006 and 2018, respectively.
Full story and listing: https://rltor.cm/okk3o2
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