Months after a San Francisco home shocked home-hunters by going on the market for just $490,000, buyers have come forward.
The bargain price was explained after it became clear that the house’s tenants had an agreement to remain living there until 2053, paying just $417 a month in rent.
Tenant Sandra Lee, 83, and her daughter Cheryl, 63, previously told the San Francisco Standard that her son Todd Lee was trying to force them out of the house and that if she could have her way, “the house wouldn’t be for sale.”
But in a surprise twist, Todd revealed to the Chronicle of San Francisco This week he accepted an offer from Cheryl for $488,000.
This Edwardian-style property in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood made headlines in recent weeks after hitting the market for $500,000, but home seekers were shocked to discover they wouldn’t be able to live in it until 2053.
Sandra previously said that disputes over the house on offer, in the highly sought-after Russian Hill area of San Francisco, separated her family.
“We were a large family. Now we are devastated. If it weren’t for the lease that (my son) didn’t know about and that was made in 2018, I don’t know where we would be,” she lamented.
“It’s unfathomable, the deception, the betrayal… this is my son doing this to me.”
She claimed Todd was trying to kick her out of the house through a combination of attorney fees, assuming trust for the house, and listing the house while she was still living in it.
When the house hit the market, it made headlines after people realized the staggering amount of time they would have to wait to live in it.
Russian Hill is an upmarket residential community known for the famous crooked Lombard Street, a major tourist destination.
The house was originally built in 1924 and was most recently purchased for $52,000 in 1968 by Florence Goo and Kenneth Koon Kin Goo.
The house was put into a trust in 1991, which was split in two when she died in 2006.
There are three beneficiaries of the trusts: Cheryl, Sandra and Sandra’s brother, Cedric Goo.
The unorthodox lease was signed in 2022, shortly before Kenneth Goo died in the home at age 102, which Todd said he believed was because he “wanted to make sure my sister had a place to live, and maybe my mom.”
The family’s attorney said Cheryl was named in the lease as a tenant until March 31, 2049, and it was later amended to extend it.
He also ordered tenants to continue paying property taxes and lease insurance, and allowed “tenant’s immediate and extended family” to use the home as well.
California law reportedly states that a lease of 35 years or more is considered a change of ownership, which may result in property tax changes in the future.
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.
When Kenneth died, it added another layer to the family’s fight over the property, forcing it to be revalued, causing its value to skyrocket from $143,152 to $1,428,000.
Although Sandra claimed that she and her daughter were being taken advantage of, Todd also claimed that he never intended to do so and was unaware of the lease until recently.
“This is a family disaster,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.
‘I wanted to keep it private. When my mother spoke up, the situation got exponentially worse.’
The family’s attorney told the outlet that if the house sold for $1.8 million, a price it could well reach, Sandra and Cheryl would collectively get $1.1 million from their trusts, and Cedric Goo would receive $700,000.
However, the sale to Cheryl significantly reduces these funds.
Since Cheryl bought the house for less than $500,000, her and her mother’s shares are only worth $300,000 together, and Cedric’s are worth $200,000.
But after years of family strife, Todd Lee told the outlet he ultimately agreed to the sale to avoid fighting in court, with a host of state laws and property tax issues still hanging over the viral home saga.