Imagine, you’ve just won $100,000 on your favorite daytime television game show. The host leans over and asks what you’ll do with the money, and you reply, “I’m going to buy a parking spot!” This isn’t a absurdist fantasy—well, the game show part is—but in San Francisco, someone really bought a parking spot for $100,000. America can be a tale of two cities, and the spot’s sale is perfect example. In parts of the country, someone could buy a house with that money if they’re lucky, depending on the location. But in the Bay Area, where everything sells for a premium, spending one-hundred grand doesn’t shock local residents as much as it does the rest of the nation, especially given the spot’s location just blocks from San Francisco’s waterfront near the Financial District. In fact, some experts say it is a good financial investment: Buy it, rent it out for hundreds a month, and then sell it for an equally shocking price tag.
You can buy a whole house in some parts of the country for $100,000. In notoriously unaffordable San Francisco, it will get you a parking spot.
The $100,000 spot is located in a covered garage attached to a luxury condo complex in San Francisco's ultrapricey South Beach neighborhood. Buyers do not need to live at the 88 Townsend complex to use it.
"It's a safe place to park your money," says Compass real estate agent Bill Williams, who's representing the parking spot. Yes, Space 140 has its own real estate agent. "It could be a nice hedge against the stock market dropping."
Advertisement
Related Stories
Sales
Sales and Texting? Know the Rules
Texting your sales prospects en masse can be an efficient way to get your message through if you follow these best practices
Affordability
Will NAR's Landmark Commissions Settlement Lower Housing Costs?
The $418 million deal changes long-standing rules—written and unwritten—that consumers claim inflated sales commissions for home sellers, including new-home builders
Market Data + Trends
January's Mortgage Rate Dip Prompts Some Thawing of the Housing Market
A drop in mortgage rates from recent peaks nudged more homebuyers and sellers into the market, signaling the start of greater supply and demand