A beautiful period home in one of San Francisco’s most desirable neighborhoods is listed for just $488,000, a third of what it’s worth.
But while the 1924 multistory house in Russian Hill may seem like a bargain to many, it has one big drawback.
The 1,100-square-foot home features three bedrooms, a garage and a fireplace in the living room.
It also features a driveway, a bathroom and an “unwarranted and perhaps illegal half-bathroom,” as well as a fenced backyard.
A unique Edwardian-style property in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood, priced at nearly $500,000, has just hit the market.
But the buyer of this property may not be able to establish residency until 2053.
According to the San Francisco StandardSandra Lee, 83, and her daughter Cheryl Lee, 66, are the home’s current tenants.
But it’s Sandra’s son, Todd Lee, who actually owns the property, meaning whoever buys the house will own his mother.
Todd’s grandparents, Florence and Kenneth Goo, were the original buyers of the home in the 1970s for $52,000 and lived there until they died in the home in 2006 and 2018 respectively.
Florence and Kenneth Goo were the original buyers of the home in the 1970s for $52,000 and lived there until they died in the home in 2006 and 2018 respectively.
The current listing states that Sandra and her daughter will continue to live there and pay the same amount of rent, set at $417 a month, every month to the new owners for the next 29 years.
The retired mother explained that Todd and his own brother, Cedric Goo, have taken advantage of her and her daughter.
She claims that by taking over her adoptive stepfather’s trust, fabricating legal fees, and putting the house up for sale while she lives in it, they have tried to take over.
Under a secret lease drawn up by her stepfather, Sandra is granted a long-term rental rate of $416.67 (not including utilities) through 2053.
Sandra further said that if “she had her way, the house wouldn’t be for sale.”
Russian Hill is a luxury residential community known for the famous crooked Lombard Street, a major tourist destination
‘We had a large family. Now we are destroyed. If it wasn’t for the lease that (my son) didn’t know about and was done in 2018, I don’t know where we would be.
“The deception, the betrayal, is unfathomable; this is my son doing this to me,” she lamented.
A neighbor named Ilia Smith said ABC: ‘Thirty years. I don’t think I’m around for that.
Her husband, Tim, added: “The new owner would have to buy the house subject to a very long lease which is currently offered to a private individual.”
When asked how such a lease was possible, lawyer Steven MacDonald explained that the planning was a “careless way for the landlord to leave some security for a person.”
‘For some reason, they gave this person a 30-year right of possession. I’ve seen that before. It’s a somewhat sloppy way to plan your estate. “I want to leave some security for this person so that he doesn’t have to worry about where he’s going to live.” They can do it that way. I think they should have done it differently,’ she exclaimed.
Russian Hill is an upscale residential community known for the famous crooked Lombard Street, a major tourist destination.
Despite the problem, local real estate agents say they expect a bidding war that could push the property’s price up to $1 million.
They insist that anyone willing to play the long game will end up with a bargain whose value should only increase further as the years go by.