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San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

sfchronicle.com

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Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#151

Post by anthonybullard »

mrcorona wrote: post #105
mikeyouse wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they were going to hotels, they wouldn't cause rent increases in residential properties... that's kind of the point..

Really looking forward to overleveraged airbnbers, the kinds juggling 10 mortgages and causing housing shortages, to get blackswanned.

I wonder why people renting their cars on Turo(or buying cars to do so) aren't causing car shortages? Oh yeah, because there aren't the artificial constraints on supply there is on housing. Let's focus on the problem and not wish ill on those trying to provide a useful service to others.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#152

Post by jurassic »

raincom wrote: post #125
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a not small anecdote, I live in a new building in Mountain View -- about 300 units. When I moved in last Summer, there were only 4 units available. It's currently over 50% vacant. My rent was $4300. They're currently renting the same unit on a higher floor for $3500.

Many REITs have scooped all large apartment complexes in the bay area. So, they have been jacking up rents ad infinitum. Now these REITs got their comeuppance. One on Villa St is owned by Avalon Bay $AVB

The mega-REITS who bought all the affordable apartments in the bay area deserve what is coming to them. I rented a slummy 500 sq ft apartment (literal roaches in the kitchen) in Mountain View for $2000/month back in 2015 and just last fall, fully 3 years after moving out, I got a shakedown letter from them demanding I pay up some $300 "overdue balance" or else they fuck up my credit score. This is the first I ever heard of it. Of course I paid because my credit is worth a lot more to me than $300, but I was just thinking about how somebody in a less privileged position would feel getting a notice like that.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#153

Post by skrtskrt »

gamblor956 wrote: post #63
cameronbrown wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conjecture. AirBnB's are generally below market rate for hotels which brings more people in than you'd have otherwise gotten.

This has not been true in any major market for years, once you factor in all the fees that AirBnB doesn't disclose until you book a listing. Once fees are included, AirBnB is usually more expensive in markets like SF, LA, or NY for individual/couple listings than a comparably furnished hotel room (inclusive of fees).

This is not true at all, I regularly rent Airbnbs in major American cities for less than a quarter of what a basic hotel room would cost in the same location. The AirBnbs are a lot larger and nicer too.

It gets even better when you split the cost with people. I can get a full, nice house in a great location in LA for a little over $200 a night all in and split it with 5 friends. I would have to get a hotel penthouse for the experience to be even close.

And yes, the fact that it's so cheap does significantly increase the appetite for weekend trips for people my age. The housing part of the trip goes from a major expense to almost an afterthought.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#154

Post by pb7 »

jedberg wrote: post #148
t3rabytes wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Normally to leave a lease you need to give notice, usually 30 days. But there is one time you don't have to do that -- when the lease ends. This isn't guaranteed. In my case (renter in North Carolina), even at the end of my lease I have to give a 60 day notice prior to the lease-end or else my lease switches to month-to-month automatically.

Check your lease, but at least on my leases, it says that it only goes month to month if you pay the rent and the landlord accepts. If you don't pay the rent, the lease just ends. It's certainly a nice courtesy to let them know if you're leaving, but at least in California, it isn't required by law.

Good note, you are correct, my California lease says the same thing. Previous leases in other states were specific about giving notice but this one does not. In my opinion, this is worse for the renter than the landlord as the landlord can choose not to accept your month-to-month rent offer at the last minute leaving you stranded. I prefer the notice from either party route.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#155

Post by optimiz3 »

raincom wrote: post #138
jedberg wrote: post #73

This article seems to be based on only a few transactions, as not a lot of people are actually moving right now. I manage a couple of properties in the Bay Area, so I keep a close eye on these things. What I'm seeing is not a drop in rents, but an increase in $0 deposits and many weeks of free rent upon move in (sometimes 6+ weeks). Landlords are very reluctant to lower rents, because with the statewide rent control…

That's the first step, and this has happened many times before. No REIT drops rents; instead, they offer "$0 deposit", "no rent for the first 45 days", etc. Once these tricks are exhausted, rents will drop. The issue is: how long does it take for these tricks to exhaust?

> No REIT drops rents; instead, they offer "$0 deposit", "no rent for the first 45 days", etc.

Is this true in markets where people can legally squat for months? Or as in Seattle where landlords are required to indiscriminately house the first qualified applicant? $0 deposit would make this very exploitable.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#157

Post by code4tee »

Seems to be very localized ups and downs. In the core of cities prices are crashing and people are trying to get out. Meanwhile in surrounding suburbs prices are rising and people and getting into bidding wars.

It seems that many want to stay in region but not right in the core of things, especially if their companies are shifting to WFH where daily commute is less of a deciding factor.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#158

Post by onionoaks »

Rents IN SF other than downtown actually seem stable or marginally lower except for downtown and SOMA coz people are running away from downtown due to homelessness among other issues.

Also colleges are closed so when colleges open in Aug/ Sept, many students will be back who left this year due to the COVID crisis raising the demand. This summer the demand is lower than ever due to COVID and homelessness.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#159

Post by jedberg »

pb7 wrote: post #154
jedberg wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check your lease, but at least on my leases, it says that it only goes month to month if you pay the rent and the landlord accepts. If you don't pay the rent, the lease just ends. It's certainly a nice courtesy to let them know if you're leaving, but at least in California, it isn't required by law.

Good note, you are correct, my California lease says the same thing. Previous leases in other states were specific about giving notice but this one does not. In my opinion, this is worse for the renter than the landlord as the landlord can choose not to accept your month-to-month rent offer at the last minute leaving you stranded. I prefer the notice from either party route.

> In my opinion, this is worse for the renter than the landlord as the landlord can choose not to accept your month-to-month rent offer at the last minute leaving you stranded.

This is definitely a possibility. In practice it doesn't happen because it's a pain to find new renters, especially if you don't list and show the property ahead of time. Unless you're trying to get rid of a tenant it's unlikely to happen.

Also the tenant has other protections. If they won't renew your lease, they would have to evict you. A process that takes 30 days at least, and requires a visit to a judge. The judge would most likely side with the tenant on this one.

Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn

#160

Post by ipnon »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #53

I expect in the near future, the urban rents in general will fall. Between COVID and rioting, living in a dense city just lost a lost of luster.

New York City specifically is no stranger to borderline apocalyptic scenes. All business trends cycle. The trend of profitable work being concentrated in megacities is not ending before this recession.
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