My First Summer as a San Francisco REALTOR: Two Deals, Two Very Different Stories
I got licensed in the spring of this year, and I told myself I wasn't going to wait around for the market to hand me anything. I can’t count the number of people who told me that it could take up to a year to have my first transaction. But, this summer, I closed my first two deals, just 4 months after getting my license. One took three weeks. The other took 45 days, most of the summer, and taught me more about this business than any class could.
Here's the honest recap, numbers and all.
The Short Version
Deal one: A move to the East Bay for space, better commutes, and a more diverse community. Purchase price $1.8M, 50% down, 21 day close.
Deal two: An off market condo on Green Street in Cow Hollow, SF, sold through seller financing to the longtime elderly tenant already living there. Purchase price $2.75M, closed in early August after nearly two months in escrow. Not to mention, the deal closed while I was on vacation.
Two very different transactions. Both taught me something I'll carry into every deal from here.
Deal One: Fast, Clean, and Strategic (Almost) All the Way Through
My clients had been searching all over the Bay Area. San Francisco, Marin, the East Bay, all of it. In the end, they chose Kensington for the space, the transportation options, and the kind of community diversity that's harder to find in a lot of SF neighborhoods right now. This was actually my second ratified contract, but it closed first. We timed the offer to go in the Thursday before the 4th of July holiday weekend, which meant fewer eyes on the listing and less competition from other buyers still lining up showings. It worked.
The deal moved fast: acceptance to close in 21 days, 50% down. The one snag was a solar lien on the property. We had to figure out whether the panels were owned outright or under a lease with the solar company, and what that meant for my clients going forward. It's the kind of detail that's easy to miss and expensive to get wrong. We sorted it out, financing pushed the closing by a few days, but we got it done.
What this deal reinforced for me: timing an offer strategically matters as much as the offer itself, and even a "clean" deal usually has one thing hiding in it that needs a real answer, not a shrug.
Deal Two: Off Market, Seller Financed, and Personal in the Best Way
This one was a doozy, and I mean that with a lot of affection.
2052 Green Street is a four unit building in San Francisco. The buyer had been renting his unit for more than seven years, long enough that most people would assume he had tenant protections, but he technically didn't meet the threshold under SF's rules. Still, this was his home, and when the opportunity came up for him to buy it directly from the owner, we made it happen.
The deal was seller financed and entirely off market, which sounds simple until you're the one running it. Because it never went on the open market, there was no disclosure packet sitting ready to go. That meant a lot of the standard steps, gathering the CC&Rs, pulling HOA documents, coordinating inspections, all had to happen during the investigation period instead of before we ever opened escrow. Normally a lot of that groundwork is done up front. Here, we built the plane while flying it.
There was also a real moment of concern partway through. San Francisco's recent housing legislation allows for greater height in some areas of the city, and my buyer was worried about what that could mean for the sweeping bay views that were a huge part of why he wanted to own this unit in the first place. The building directly across from his unit is the historic Metro Theatre, which is protected from demolition or redevelopment into anything taller. That protection is exactly why his view isn't going anywhere. Once we confirmed that, he could breathe again.
We opened escrow in mid June and closed in early August, about seven weeks start to finish, which is a long runway for a deal this size but exactly what a transaction like this needs.
What this deal reinforced for me: off market and creative financing deals move at their own pace, and the work that usually happens before escrow just gets pushed inside it. Patience isn't optional. It's the job.
The Part That Isn't About the Numbers
Both of these buyers were people I knew before I ever had a real estate license. Friends, and people already in my circle. That's not a coincidence. It's how most new agents actually get their start, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
Two deals in, I'm back at the drawing board in the best way. Building a real pipeline beyond the people who already know me is the next chapter, and I'm looking forward to it.
Quick Answers
What does it mean when a home sale is off market? An off market sale means the property is never publicly listed. Buyer and seller negotiate directly, often through an existing relationship. It can move faster and stay more private, but it also means the buyer's team has to do more of the standard due diligence during escrow instead of before it.
What is seller financing in a real estate transaction? Seller financing is when the property seller acts as the lender, and the buyer makes payments directly to them instead of through a traditional mortgage. It's most common in situations where the buyer and seller already have a relationship, or where a traditional loan is harder to secure.
Can a tenant buy the home they're renting in San Francisco? Yes. A tenant can purchase the unit they're currently living in, whether through a traditional sale or a private, seller financed arrangement. It doesn't require the tenant to move, and it can be one of the more meaningful transactions in real estate. This can also be a win-win for the buyer and the seller. The seller often takes a financial hit if they try to sell a unit that is tenant occupied.
If you're thinking about a purchase that doesn't fit the standard mold, whether that's an off market opportunity, a family arrangement, or just a market you haven't fully explored yet, I'd love to talk it through. Send me a message anytime.
