The city of San Francisco is known for its idyllic skylines, booming technology and sky-high real estate prices—some of which come without a crucial feature: a parking spot.
Now, one building offering a pricey unit is trying to alleviate that problem by adding a clever sweetener. To compensate, the seller and the listing agent came up with a unique incentive to make the condo more appealing: a year's worth of free Uber rides, for up to $5,000, to the potential buyer.
The one bedroom in San Francisco's popular Marina district is listed at $799,000—priced several hundred thousand dollars less than an identical unit that recently sold a floor above it, simply because it lacks parking. That's nothing to sneeze at: In a busy neighborhood like the Marina, no space for a car could mean the difference between a potential buyer making an offer, or walking away entirely.
For that reason, Listing agent Rick Kaluza and the condominium's owner at 2701 Van Ness Ave. came up with the free car service angle. Kaluza said the response to the listing has gone through the roof, and predicts you can expect to see more of these types of incentives in the future.
"Being in San Francisco, the high-tech hub for everything new and trendy, we only want to create more innovative ideas just like this Uber deal to get people to buy property," said Kaluza.
San Francisco ranks second in the entire country for having the highest median price of a single-family home at nearly $900,000, with foreign investors and new tech millionaires among the buyers looking to swoop in and get in on a hot neighborhood.
With a dwindling number of homes on the market, and prices expected to stay sky high, Kaluza says both buyers and sellers may need to get creative to make sure that they stand out among the crowd.
