Earlier quoted context omitted.
For a 1-bed that's actually $500-700 cheaper than it is in my area (Kendall Sq. in Cambridge).
That's absurd, I'm in running distance from Kendall and my rent is <$1k.
....how?
San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
311–320 of 342 posts
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#312My lease in Sunnyvale is ending in 3 months, already last month my landlord approached me and asked if I want to stay for an extra year at a 5% increase. I told him I'd like to take some time to think about it and see where things are headed, but I'll need to get back to him soon. My house is below market already from looking at Zillow, and even with a 5% increase it still will be, but I'm not sure what I should do (…
I've had that happen to me and I told them that I would move if they increase the price. I really didn't want to move, but I'm also too proud to let someone up my rent like that. It worked, they didn't increase the rent.
Yeah, we're both playing chicken I guess, and they're good landlords and I think the feeling is mutual; plus they really lucked out to rent to someone working at a very stable company with low risk of layoffs at the moment. So I believe I have better leverage at the moment, but if there are two things I hate, they have to be moving and negotiating.
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#313> The 9.2% drop in the average one-bedroom San Francisco rent of $3,360 still leaves it unaffordable for the vast majority of city residents. Yeah, that's not much of a drop.
That's the average, I'm seeing 30-50% drop just by glancing on craigslist.
You’re seeing something I’m not then. I’ve kept my eyes on the peninsula market for years and there is no 30-50% drop. Most single family homes I’m looking at are experiencing no drops at all. Condos and apartments - nothing too out of the ordinary either.
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#314This 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…
Doesn't an increase in $0 deposits and many weeks of free rent constitute a drop in effective prices?
Yes, if you want to move out once the lease is over. No, if you want to stay for another lease term.
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the average, I'm seeing 30-50% drop just by glancing on craigslist.
You’re seeing something I’m not then. I’ve kept my eyes on the peninsula market for years and there is no 30-50% drop. Most single family homes I’m looking at are experiencing no drops at all. Condos and apartments - nothing too out of the ordinary either.
After 5 seconds looking, this used to be 4000$ AT LEAST https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-bright-...
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rent control is trumpeted as some sort of protection for low-income people, but it actually has no such provisions that make it available to, or targets such people. The only beneficiaries of rent-control are people who happen to be incumbent residents.
Also incumbent landlords who are sitting on paid off properties. A landlord with an old building has less vacancies if he doesn't have to compete with new construction.
I'm not sure it works that way. I'm no landlord, but property tax is not subject to rent control reductions as far as I know. The primary beneficiaries of rent control are the people who are the renters, and are often able to extract value out of it from buyouts in the tens of thousands of dollars to as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In a city like SF, vacancies is not a thing. Actually for that matter, in any market the market price is some equilibrium price that gives a certain vacancy rate.
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
The landlord is selling: - A month (or year) of time in the apartment for cost $x. - An option on purchasing more time for cost $y/time unit. What these "tricks" do is make $x less than $y. That makes sense in the short term when you expect to be able demand higher rent/unit time in the future. When that expectation is no longer likely, it makes sense to lower $y to $x because other landlords will, and they will have…
I don’t think that’s true. The landlord can cancel this “option” reasonably easily so it is quite different from selling a call. I look at it like: the fair value for rent is x. The current rent is y > x. If the landlord nominally lowers the rent, they cannot raise it to as high a value next year, and they do not want to do this. Therefore they are incentivised to (effectively) give the tenant money along with the re…
> The landlord can cancel this “option” reasonably easily so it is quite different from selling a call.
Theoretically in a rent controlled market the landlord can't cancel the call option. In practice they might be able to by jumping through some (expensive) hoops, but it should be a reasonable approximation still.
I'm not quite sure what sf/Cali law looks like so I am just taking in generalities about rent controlled markets.
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re seeing something I’m not then. I’ve kept my eyes on the peninsula market for years and there is no 30-50% drop. Most single family homes I’m looking at are experiencing no drops at all. Condos and apartments - nothing too out of the ordinary either.
After 5 seconds looking, this used to be 4000$ AT LEAST https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-bright-...
> This posting has been flagged for removal. [?]
I'm presuming you're looking at spam listings and getting taken for a ride.
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tenderloin, I mainly looked in the Russian Hill / Marina / Lower Pac heights areas for private 1 bedroom situations in 2/3 additional roomates. I ended up going for a place in the Presidio. For the most part the opportunities I was seeing were for subleases where a tenant moved out hurriedly, which seems to be VERY common right now. FWIW all private room + 2/3 roomate situations were in the range of $1200 - $1500 vs.…
Weird question, but how is it living in the Tenderloin?
(Not GP)
I worked in the TL for three years and went on a few dates with a girl who lived there. The people in actual apartments are fine. People in SROs not so much, people on the street can be a problem. The needles, urine, feces are real. The attendant at the lot I parked at said he thought he'd be dead within six weeks of taking the job, but in my time there, I think he was only assaulted once (it was more jarring than injuring). One coworker got slapped by one of the crazies, another assaulted. Oddly enough, my car did fine. I've street-parked it around Turk and Jones and picked it up at ~midnight with all my windows intact. As bad as the TL is, it isn't Bayview. I'm always amazed at walk from with Powell to Civic Center, Geary to Market, or west from Union Square; how quickly it changes is incredible. You also see scared, lost tourists a lot because of that.
There are some interesting restaurants there, and you're actually close to a lot of things. If you're living there in a secure building with a secure garage and can mostly avoid the street, it's tolerable. I wouldn't make a habit of casually walking around the block or stumbling home drunk. If you're paying attention and walking with intent, you're generally fine.
Re: San Francisco, Silicon Valley rents plunge amid downturn
#320I think the reality will set in soon on this once the CARES bonus UI is removed (and if it is not replaced) and the PPP loans run out. Right now everyone I know in real estate is still convinced it was just a minor blip and love to cite cherry picked stats about how a recovery is already under way. Coincidently I have been seeing a lot of fully furnished units coming on the market which I assume were former Airbnbs.
> CARES bonus UI is removed
California UI maxes out at $450 per week. This is the same amount as 2008. $1400 per month (take out taxes) won't really cover any rent situation in the Bay Area, and definitely not a $3500 nice-but-not-amazing apartment.