San Francisco, CA
$1.4 million San Francisco house snapped up for shockingly low price — but it comes with a huge headache
A classic Edwardian home in San Francisco‘s Russian Hill with timeless character has been snapped up for $488,000 by a savvy homebuyer.
The unusually low price is far less than half of the city’s $1.2 million median list price and an even smaller portion of the property’s estimated $1.4 million value.
Though the home might seem like a dream bargain at first glance, it comes with a rather astonishing catch: The new owner may not move into the property 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.
These laws are designed to protect long-term renters, securing low costs over a years long period and enabling the current tenant to take full control over payments of all utilities, including water, garbage, and energy bills.
There’s no wiggle room either. The sale was strictly as is, according to the listing, which also noted that agents were unable to guarantee access to the property for an inspection or even a walk-through before purchase.
The seller also had the right to reject or counter any offers.
Perhaps understandably, given the legal complexities that come with the home, any potential buyers were urged to review the full disclosure package and consult with an attorney before committing to purchasing the house.
And that’s not the only “catch” to have come with the property.
Per the listing, the former male owner of the house died inside it. He was over the age of 100 and died of natural causes.
When the home was first listed, it sparked a frenzy of excitement and intrigue.
One neighbor at the time, Ilia Smith, told ABC News that there was a line of people wrapped around the block waiting for a chance to peek inside the unique home.
“My husband came in and said, ‘You’ve got to look out the window. There’s a line from the house all the way to the middle of the block,’” she said.
Ultimately, it was revealed that the home had been the subject of a bitter family feud, according to the San Francisco Standard, which reported that the home was listed by Todd Lee, who is the son of the current tenant, Sandra Lee.
According to the Standard, the property was purchased by Sandra’s parents, Florence and Kenneth Goo, in the 1970s. The Goos lived there for many years until they both died in the home, in 2006 and 2018, respectively.
Sandra, who has been living in the home since 2018, told the Standard that the property had been listed by her son without her permission. He was unaware of the iron-clad lease clauses that Kenneth had secretly written into her rental agreement before his death, she added.
“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 publication. “It’s unfathomable, the deception, the betrayal—this is my son doing this to me.”
Property records indicate that the home was actually purchased by Sandra’s daughter, Cheryl Lee, suggesting that the family rift has since been put aside and that the new owner will not have to worry about dealing with the difficulties of having a stranger occupying their home for the next three decades.
At the time of the home’s original listing, experts at local company Kinoko Real Estate explained the complexities of buying this kind of property. There are a few upsides to purchasing a dwelling that already has a long-term tenant installed, they noted.
“Real estate investors might be intrigued by the long-term investment opportunity,” the company’s website said. “The guaranteed rental income for nearly three decades is attractive, especially considering San Francisco’s historically rising rents.”
However, according to Kinoko, the downsides are much more obvious.
“While the long-term rental income might be enticing, there are some significant drawbacks to consider,” the website goes on. “Firstly, the buyer has no control over the property for nearly three decades. Major repairs or renovations would be at the mercy of the tenant’s cooperation.
“Additionally, predicting the housing market in 2053 is a fool’s errand. There’s no guarantee the property will appreciate in value as much as hoped, especially considering the long wait time.”
A fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation in SoMa knocked out power to as many as 130,000 customers starting Saturday, leaving thousands in the dark heading into the holiday season and a week of intense storms. Here’s what we know about the outage and state of restoration.
What happened?
The fire began shortly before 1:10 p.m. Saturday at PG&E’s Mission substation at Eighth and Mission streets, initially affecting 40,000 customers. As firefighters worked to suppress the blaze, crews de-energized additional portions of the electric system for safety, causing outages to peak at approximately 130,000 customers.
The fire damaged critical equipment, including a circuit breaker — a safety switch designed to de-energize the system when problems are detected. Firefighters faced unusual complexities suppressing the fire in the multilevel building, including ventilating carbon monoxide before crews could safely enter.
When did power come back?
Firefighters made the building safe for PG&E crews to enter by 6:15 p.m. Saturday. Restoration efforts began immediately. Nearly 32,000 customers were reconnected by 8:45 p.m. Saturday, and about 100,000 — roughly 75% of those affected — were up by 9:30 p.m.
By noon Sunday, 90% of affected customers had power restored. PG&E initially projected full restoration by 2 p.m. Monday; however, a spokesperson said the utility was extending restoration times (opens in new tab) for the remaining 4,400 customers without power. No time frame has been announced.
What sparked the fire?
PG&E says it doesn’t know. COO Sumeet Singh said Monday that the extensive equipment damage makes it difficult to determine a root cause. The utility has hired Exponent, a Bay Area-based engineering firm, to conduct an independent investigation.
“We will determine what occurred to ensure it never happens again,” Singh said at a press conference outside the damaged substation.
Was the equipment properly maintained?
PG&E completed preventative maintenance at the Mission substation in October and conducted its most recent bimonthly inspection Dec. 5. Singh said neither inspection identified any problems.
Why were the estimated restoration times wrong?
Many customers were irate as they were repeatedly given estimated restoration times that came and went. Singh acknowledged the failure and said PG&E’s estimation systems typically perform well, with more than 91% accuracy systemwide.
“It obviously did not work effectively in the circumstance over this weekend,” Singh said. “We are committed to understanding exactly what happened, why it happened, and owning the fixes.”
Were other substations damaged?
Residents have observed a large presence of workers at a substation at 24th Avenue and Balboa Street since Sunday, but the utility has not shared details on what is being done there.
Six hulking diesel generators, which one worker said cost $600,000 to operate daily, were parked outside the substation Monday afternoon. The generators are needed to feed power to the grid while both substations are not fully operational. Crews said they are expected to run for at least two to three days.
Two workers said the substation is undamaged and still online, but its output is diminished because it is fed power by the much larger substation at Eighth and Mission.
However, another said one of the substation’s transformers blew out after a power surge following the fire, and the generators are needed to compensate while workers “update the system” of the west-side substation.
How will customers be compensated?
PG&E plans to offer an expedited claims process for affected customers to seek compensation for losses, including spoiled food, lost business revenue, and hotel costs. Singh said details will be available soon on the utility’s website and through customer service.
He declined to specify compensation limits or provide immediate financial relief, saying customers would need to file claims that PG&E would process quickly. The utility opened a community resource center in the Richmond and partnered with 211 to provide hotel accommodations and food vouchers for vulnerable customers.
Could this happen again?
Singh said PG&E has identified no vulnerabilities at other substations and has made significant upgrades systemwide. Two strong storms forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday (opens in new tab) could bring 4 to 10 inches of rain to Northern California; he said more than 5,500 PG&E workers and contractors are positioned to respond.
The outage occurred 22 years to the day (opens in new tab) after a mass blackout at the same substation in 2003, raising questions about aging infrastructure that Singh did not directly address.
Good morning. Extremely lean and mean (well, merry, really) for the rest of this week as we head into our annual winter break.
We’ll hang things up for the year on Dec. 24 and pick things back up on Jan. 5.
Happy holidays. (Yippee-Ki-Yay.) —AN
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What happened when Waymo robotaxis met a San Francisco blackout
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images
An extraordinary experiment happened over the weekend in San Francisco.
What would a fleet of autonomous vehicles do when a widespread power outage knocked out traffic lights across one-third of the city?
We quickly found out—and the results were plastered all over social media.
On Saturday afternoon, Waymo vehicles throughout SF opted to stop where they were or pull over and throw on their hazard lights—“blocking intersections” and “compounding gridlock,” observed the San Francisco Standard—leading the Alphabet-owned robotaxi operator to suspend service throughout the city. (It resumed Sunday evening.)
In a statement, Waymo said that its vehicles are “designed to treat non-functional signals as four-way stops” but “the sheer scale of the outage led to instances where vehicles remained stationary longer than usual.”
As locals worked through the outage, a moderate debate about the robotaxi fleet continued online. Was it so wrong to expect Waymo’s vehicles to play it safe when infrastructure stopped working? After all, aren’t human drivers predictably chaotic when things go sideways? What exactly should robotaxis optimize for: traffic flow or citizen safety?
And: Just how safe is stopping if you prompt traffic to go around you?
Waymo resumed service Sunday evening, no doubt grappling with these questions (and what city officials might have to say about them). “We are already learning and improving from this event,” it said. —AN
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SAN FRANCISCO – About 21,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco were still without power Sunday morning, a day after a massive outage darkened much of the city during one of the busiest shopping weekends before Christmas, according to PG&E.
What we know:
The utility said the outage began shortly after noon Saturday in the western part of the city before spreading to several neighborhoods, including most of downtown.
At one point, PG&E estimated that roughly one-third of all San Francisco customers were without electricity.
Investigators are now working to determine whether the outage is connected to a fire Saturday at a PG&E substation near Eighth and Mission streets.
What they’re saying:
“We do not know exactly which happened first, meaning if the fire caused the outage or not,” said San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias. “It’s too early to tell at this time, but in order for us to work there in a safe operation, we need the power off.”
The outage created widespread transportation disruptions throughout the city. With traffic signals dark at major intersections, drivers faced significant congestion in multiple neighborhoods. BART also temporarily closed its Powell Street and Civic Center stations due to the power failure.
The blackout also affected autonomous vehicle service in San Francisco. Waymo temporarily suspended its robotaxi operations, citing safety concerns. Video recorded during the outage showed several of the company’s vehicles stalled in intersections, at times blocking traffic and nearly causing collisions.
In a statement, Waymo said it was “focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work,” adding that it plans to resume service in San Francisco “soon” but did not give a specific time.
The Source: Original reporting by Allie Rasmus of KTVU
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