The Housing Market in San Francisco and Ideas to Fix It

Prop 13 was put into place because the state and municipalities were raising taxes left and right without consideration of things like fixed income individuals being able to stay in their homes.

There was good and bad in the measure. Good - to a point - raising the need to add taxes above 50%+1 vote, the bad, it applied property tax issues to both commercial and residential properties equally.

It's much easier to set up a business entity to span generations and avoid taxes than it is a private home.

The measure also masked an issue of use. A single individual who bought a house for $500k would pay more in taxes than a family who bought a house in the same neighborhood for $350k, yet if the family has children in the schools, they are paying less in taxes and getting more out. Most property taxes have multiple assessments for schools.

It does need to be fixed, but the conversation so far has fixated on residential and ignored the commercial impacts of prop 13.

I work in San Francisco. I have lived in San Francisco. I have had two generations of family live in that city. I don't like the city like a lot of you do. I try to avoid it on weekends.

I just haven't seen these empty potential rental units?

I now live in Marin County. I can guarantee I have never seen a empty house due to low property taxes.

My aunt used to live in Marin county. She was far from wealthy. She could only afford to stay here because her property taxes were reasonable. Actually, I would have let her stay with me for free, but she wanted her own house. A house she bought on a librarian's wage in the 50's. Yea--I know--you should let rediculious property taxes force her to move in with you to free up a home. A home she bought.

You will be her one day--I guarantee that--especially the average Programmer.

I was a kid, but before prop 13 property rates were going up every year--without a ceiling in sight. It was making Everyone scared. Beyond scared. Mad as Hell--by Howard Jarvis. I remember my father barely making those bi-yearly payments. I remember the fear on their faces. This was in the 70's, when San Francisco and Marin county were still basically middle class. Way before society decided these counties were magical?

When prop 13 passed. Their was a middle class sigh of relief.

Why can't you find a reasonable place to rent? San Francisco has always been a tight market. Yea, blame rent control. Marin has always been a tight market--no rent control, except in San Anselmo--detached mother-inlaw units are attached to federal poverty level in some way?

So--what's the problem? It's a unicorn of problems.

People are greedy. Building is very difficult. Zoning codes are ridid. Their are NIMBYs. Etc.

Again--people are greedy. Say there's a three bedroom two car garage house in Marin is paying $6000/yr in property taxes. The house has one working bathroom. There's no legal on street parking.

Do you really think that house will not be rented out. How do you think these people have the money they appear to have?

Even if your premise is right--do you really think rents would drop, if say 10 percent of housing opened up overnight? I really don't think some of you realize this is not the Bible Belt. There's not much morality here, except on Christmas, and maybe a few other holidays. People want their money. They are greedy. Get used to it.

I've seen greedy behavior forever, and there's always those that will look for something easy to blame it on. It's not prop 13! It's usually that CEO who needs to live in only the best enviornment? The beach, and mountians, and a low crime rate. Yea--that's where I want to set up shop? Let's the peons fight for housing.

Actually, the state would love it if this blame catches on.

The State of California will rob you blind.

That greedy behavior I have see in people, and even the state always sickened me.

(I wrote this off the cuff. There's bound to be errors. I really don't care to hear about petty errors. Actually, I don't come back to most posts, so fight among yourselfs. I can guarantee the state loves this blame on prop 13.)

The root cause of the problem is that there are too many people wanting to move to San Fransisco because that's where the (tech) jobs are.

Spread out the jobs to spread out the people?

It feels like a very dogmatic mantra "it just works better". VCs should try to reexamine and disrupt startup financing by not being clustered in one place (which is one of the top arguments for moving to SV other than talent pol being there which is kind of self fulfilling).

"Move to where your initial customers live" would be a decent counter-mantra. Make it a differentiator as a VC that you come to the startup and don't make them come to you.