San Francisco realtor is mocked for selling office as a residential home for $520,000
A San Francisco realtor has been mocked after listing an office building as a residential home on Zillow with a $520,000 asking price.
The one-bedroom condo comes with harsh fluorescent lighting, a paneled ceiling, hard-wearing carpets and a glass-paneled conference room which is supposed to be the master suit.
The 'home' is located in Grand Landing commercial condominium development and is adjacent to banks, eateries, and drug stores. It is situated in the San Rafael neighborhood where the median price for a condo is $556,000.
The interior design nightmare was revealed in a viral TikTok video by 'zillowtastrophes' who said: 'I've never seen it done so lazily as they did in this conversion in San Rafael ... I think living here might be just as soul-crushing, if not more soul-crushing, than working here.'
The Bay Area Zillow listing has been making its rounds online, depressing viewers with the unconvincing office-to-house conversion - which has become a trend since the pandemic.
The viral video, which recently gained traction on TikTok, showcases a converted one-bedroom condo situated in San Rafael, posted by zillowtastrophes on Wednesday
A San Francisco realtor is mocked after listing an office building as a residential home on Zillow and asking $520k for the rebrand. The 'house' is located in Grand Landing commercial condominium development and is adjacent to banks, eateries, and drug stores
The condo is complete with carpeted floors, harsh fluorescent lighting, and a conference room masquerading as a bedroom (pictured)
Next-door neighbors would include: Starbucks, Rite Aid, T-Mobile and Trader Joe's and other establishments typically found in a strip mall off the side of a highway.
The 'bedroom' has remained untouched from the days it operated as a conference room.
The dreary, gray industrial carpeting, commonly found in corporate offices, further contributes to the underwhelming atmosphere.
But spanning just over 1,000 square feet, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment offers relatively decent living space for the Bay Area, where the median home price is $556,000 as of June 2023, according to Redfin.
'Be on the forefront of a new way to work in this incredible location in vibrant downtown San Rafael,' the Zillow listing writes.
'This recently converted live/work unit has a new kitchen, laundry, bathroom, freshly painted in an amazingly convenient location. Easy access to shared outdoor deck with views.' the post added.
The features of the property in the listing include, fresh paint, a new kitchen, secure entry, and ample parking.
The Zillow listing included a 'before' picture of how the office looked when it was in use, appearing not very different than the updated look.
Some of your next-door neighbors would include: Starbucks, Rite Aid, T-Mobile and Trader Joe's and other establishments typically found in a strip mall off the side of a highway
The condo features a 'new kitchen' which is fitted with its own hard floor, set in against the industrial office carpet
The Bay Area Zillow listing has been making its rounds online, depressing viewers with the unconvincing office-to-house conversion - which has become a trend since the pandemic
Spanning just over 1,000 square feet, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment offers relatively decent living space for the Bay Area, where the median home price is $556,000 as of June 2023
The 'bedroom' has remained untouched from the days it operated as a conference room
'This recently converted live/work unit has a new kitchen, laundry, bathroom, freshly painted in an amazingly convenient location. Easy access to shared outdoor deck with views' the Zillow post wrote
The tiny bathroom has been fitted with a sink that makes efficient use of the space
The dreary, gray industrial carpeting, commonly found in corporate offices, further contributes to the underwhelming atmosphere
The Zillow listing included a 'before' picture of how the office looked when it was in use, appearing not very different than the updated look
The features of the property in the listing include, fresh paint, a new kitchen, secure entry, and ample parking
The balcony faces a busy road overlooking a parking lot and nearby establishments
While the majority of users mocked the listing in the comments, some noted that the living space has potential.
'Honestly remove the ceiling. New lights. New carpet. Totally fine.'
'They could have replaced the carpeting and put in a few more walls before listing. How does the price compare to other property?'
But others made light of the depressing offer with sarcastic comments.
'Whoa, whoa, whoa….you’re telling me that for only half a million dollars…I can LIVE in my break room at work????' one joked.
'We just got used to work from home, now we have to home from work!' a second added.
'I’ve always wanted the experience of an airplane bathroom in my own home!' a third user commented.
Some were in the middle.
'If it was 350. Sold. The Starbucks downstairs and the Pilates studios is such a time saver.'
'Is the AC bill shared across the mall tenants lol.'
Commercial real estate has become a debt timebomb, experts have warned, as office towers remain empty in once-bustling cities.
The new era of remote work means 'zombie' workspaces remain vacant - while higher interest rates make it more expensive to buy or refinance buildings.
Some $1.5trillion in real estate mortgages are due this year and next, bringing the market to a dangerous precipice. When the deadline arrives, experts warn owners may be forced to default instead of borrowing again to cover the bill.
Earlier this month, the landlords of downtown San Francisco's Westfield mall stopped making mortgage payments on its $558million loan amid rising crime and tanking sales.
Westfield's struggles will pile fresh pressure on city leaders, after multiple retailers and hotels shuttered in downtown San Francisco as it continues to battle soaring crime, open drug use and homelessness.
The famously progressive city has been condemned for its 'harm reduction' policies, which critics say have effectively legalized drug taking. Meanwhile, its police department remains short-staffed after woke lawmakers called for defunding in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
Whole Foods, Old Navy, Gap and Office Depot are just some of the stores in the district to announce in recent months that they are closing.
Out of 203 retailers open in 2019 in the city's Union Square area, just 107 are still operating - a drop of 47 percent in just a few pandemic-ravaged years.
The city is in something of a vicious cycle: office workers are now working from home, leaving the downtown area significantly quieter, and making the empty streets more dangerous. The rise in crime then deters people from entering downtown.
And as the downtown empties, the city loses essential tax revenues, and the area becomes less appealing.
The revenue loss to the city caused by decreased property taxes could reach $196 million per year by 2028, according to modeling published in November by the San Francisco Controller's Office.
The best-case scenario from the modeling expects the cost will be nearer to $100 million per year.
The building which houses The San Francisco Chronicle, a block from Westfield mall, faces a 60 percent vacancy rate by the fall as tenants Yahoo and Autodesk's leases expire.
The city has been affected by a state-wide shoplifting law that downgraded stealing goods worth less than $950 from a felony to a far less serious misdemeanor crime.
A disturbing recent report showed 95 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent.
In April, Whole Foods said it would shut its flagship store in downtown San Francisco 'for the time being' to ensure staff 'safety'.
Home prices have decreased 12 percent from 2022 in San Rafael.
California's exodus has continued to pick up steam since the pandemic.
A woman in a wheelchair injects drugs at San Francisco's infamous open-air drugs market. The taxpayer funded 'harm reduction' facility opened and shuttered close to Westfield in early 2022, after criticism that it had done nothing to sort out the city's many social ills
The new era of remote work means 'zombie' workspaces remain vacant - while higher interest rates make it more expensive to buy or refinance buildings
The office availability rate for lease and sublease has soared across US cities this year
Westfield in San Francisco (pictured) has announced that it is handing the building back to the lender
Camps are set up around the city and people take drugs openly. Pictured: Homeless tents are seen in Tenderloin District during heavy rain in San Francisco on January 11
Several of the stores which have closed cited safety concerns as the downtown area of San Francisco is ravaged by homelessness and drug taking
Data shows 111,000 residents - more than 300 per day are leaving the West Coast.
The number of Americans moving out of California to Texas doubled from 2012 and 2021.
The study found Californians were lured from their state by a number of factors, including cheaper housing, lower taxes and booming work opportunities
About 300 Californians moved to Texas each day in 2021 - a staggering 111,000 people, newly released data shows.
That is double the 63,000 that made the same move in 2012, according to a new report from Storage Café, which examined California-Texas migration patterns over nearly a decade.
Fueling that shift was the COVID pandemic which increased the number of people that could work from home, releasing them from traditional commitments that would tie them down to a specific location.
More than 100 companies have moved their headquarters to Texas since 2020, with 40 percent of them coming from California, the study found.
The metro area of San Francisco has the highest cost of living in the United States and requires a post-tax salary of $84,000 to live comfortably - compared to a low of $57,000 in St Louis, according to an April study.
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