New policy approved on S.F. below-market-rate condos resale

It had been two years of stressful waiting. 

Amy and Simon Jansuk, have been waiting for a buyer to purchase their below-market-rate condo at 270 Valencia St. since 2022. 

City rules have limited the sale price of below-market-rate units, meaning owners might even lose money on such sales — Mission Local wrote about the Jansuks’ plight in 2022, detailing how the city had set their sale price at $74,000 less than they’d spent on the condo.

But after legislation proposed by District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, they will finally have a chance to make a profit.

The Planning Commission today voted 5-1 to approve an ordinance to create a waiver specifically for some below-market-rate units — like the Jansuks’ condo — that were bought for a higher price than the city is now allowing them to sell for. 

The waiver will only apply to very few cases — right now, in fact, only one unit in the whole program’s portfolio, according to Melgar, though the city says it could be up to 100 units.

Below-market-rate condos are those built by private developers to fulfill affordable housing mandates, and their sales are regulated by the city. When the Jansuks bought their condo in 2018 for $415,000, they weren’t made aware of an existing yet unenforced policy called the “affordable resale price” — a price calculated by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. 

The “affordable resale price” has been on the books for over two decades but the city only made it public and clear to buyers in 2019 — one year after the Jansuks bought their condo. If any owner were to sell above that resale price — $386,000 for the Jansuks — the buyers would not qualify for city assistance, severely limiting the pool of buyers. This would force the Jansuks, today, to take a $95,000 loss.

The new waiver approved on Thursday would raise the income level of potential buyers  — enlarging that pool — and raise the allowed resale price.