1. Before you start touring
- Get fully underwritten pre-approval, not just a pre-qualification. In competitive situations, sellers weigh how certain your financing is.
- Budget from the purchase price. Property tax resets on purchase; use roughly the purchase price times the current San Francisco tax rate plus any direct assessments, and confirm with the Assessor-Recorder.
- Set aside a reserve for the first years of ownership. Older houses rarely come without deferred maintenance.
- Decide what matters on the hill: flat walk to Cortland or Precita Park, a view, a garage, a legal second unit. It is hard to get all four.
2. Read the disclosure packet like an underwriter
Most listings make a packet available before the offer date. It typically includes the Transfer Disclosure Statement, the Seller Property Questionnaire, natural-hazard disclosures, and often a seller-ordered property inspection and pest report. Read it before you fall in love with the staging.
- Pest report Section 1 vs. Section 2. Section 1 items are active infestation or damage; Section 2 items are conditions likely to lead to it. Both carry real costs.
- Permit history. Compare the rooms and square footage being marketed with the permit record. Lower-level bedrooms, baths, and in-law units are where discrepancies usually are.
- Gaps. No sewer lateral inspection? No roof report on an older roof? Ordering your own before the offer date may be worth the cost.
Thomas’s perspective · opinion
I build buyers a short cost sheet from the packet: the likely near-term repairs, what’s cosmetic, and what the unpermitted space does to value. It turns an emotional bid into a number you can defend to yourself afterward.
3. Understand how the list price is set
In San Francisco, the list price is a marketing decision, not an appraisal. Some sellers list near the price they expect; others list below it to attract more buyers to the offer date. The only reliable guide is recent comparable single-family sales in the same part of Bernal, adjusted for condition, size, lot, view, and parking. Thomas prepares that analysis for each property his buyers are serious about, using MLS closed sales and the current market report.
4. Writing the offer
- Contingencies: each one you shorten or waive shifts risk to you. Waive only what your own due diligence already covers.
- Appraisal gap: if the price may exceed the appraisal, know in advance how you would cover the difference.
- Pre-emptive offers: sometimes accepted before the offer date. They work best when the buyer has already done the due-diligence work above.
- Terms beyond price: closing timeline, a rent-back for the seller, or a deposit size can matter to a seller.
5. In-law units and tenants
If the house has a second unit, or a tenant, slow down. Whether the unit is legal, whether it can be legalized, and whether local eviction protections apply all change what you are buying. San Francisco also regulates the removal of unauthorized units. Check the address with the Planning Department and consider a consultation with a real estate attorney; the Rent Board publishes plain-language guidance.
Fact vs. rumor
“Single-family homes aren’t covered by rent control” is only half true. State law generally exempts them from rent-increase limits, but San Francisco’s just-cause eviction rules can still apply to a tenant in a single-family home. Get advice specific to the property.
6. From acceptance to closing
- Deposit earnest money into escrow, usually within three business days.
- Complete any remaining inspections and insurance quotes during the contingency period.
- Appraisal and final loan approval.
- Review the preliminary title report for easements, liens, and encroachments.
- Final walkthrough, signing, funding, and recording.