The people who live in those houses aren't usually the ones selling because they don't own them I suspect.
The circumstances vary. The feedback is different. It depends on who you talk to. The Mission. The Bayview. The Excelsior. Oceanview. Visitacion Valley. At one point in time or another, these were all neighborhoods which priced lower than the rest of The City.
Oceanview/Lakeview/Ingleside; on the South side of Ocean Avenue to Brotherhood Way, from I-280 City College, to Jules Street. As a kid, I remember that area as middle class, African American homeowners. Kids I knew who lived there, their parents worked in city jobs, belonged to trade unions, and some owned small businesses. The kids I knew, they all sold those homes. I still see them in The City. They work here, entertain here, and some still worship here. But they are all glad that they sold. They got to move to safer suburbs. Every one of them said that they are glad that their children don't have duck bullets at Oceanview Playground or Capitol & Broad.
But that's only the half dozen people I knew. The inherited homes from parents and grandparents, who could afford to buy those homes. They were not "poor", in the sense that they did not live on government subsidies, and they went to college.
I know a guy who is in real estate, and his transactions are largely in The Bayview/Hunters Point. A majority of the homes being sold are single family homes. He grew up in that neighborhood, but he no longer lives there. He just comes back to sell the houses. His outlook is: "What are you going to do? Tell those people they can't sell? They the new people they can't buy?" But then again, he makes a commission selling those homes.
A friend of mine sold his house in The Mission. He took the money, and moved into a place which is so safe, he is the most dangerous guy in the subdivision. He's paying HOA dues for security. The home was bought by his grandparents. He raised his kids there. And now, he wants more for his grandkids. He doesn't want another generation in "the hood".
I was on the commercial strip of Visitacion Valley recently. Leland Street. The store fronts reflect the shift in demographics. The churches are now worshipping in Spanish and Chinese. The liquor store across the street from the bank parking lot, is now a fresh grocery vendor accepting EBT. There's an art gallery, and a pet grooming salon. And a real sign of the times, a cafe with fancy coffee drinks and poetry. I don't know if it's gentrification. It's a small neighborhood with single family homes. Different people are moving in. They aren't changing the community. They are the community.
I don't know anyone who owns a big apartment building. I suspect that in a lot of the buildings, there are rent control laws. A new owner buys a building, those tenants are usually protected from eviction and rent increases.
I believe that there are only 2 ways to get rid of tenants in SF.
1, is for the property owner to evict so that they can live there themselves. Which makes sense. If I buy a home to live in, I should be able to move into it. Nobody can buy a multilevel building with 10 units, and declare that they are moving into all 10 units.
The other method is to remove the entire building from the rental market. The owner kicks everyone out, then is not allowed to rent the units. The building is suppose to stay empty, to be off the market. Almost counterintuitive to have a law which takes units off the market. Nobody wins. People are evicted. With a housing shortage, apartments must be lawfully vacant. And the property owner loses rental income.
It's a difficult city to be a property owner. It's even harder to be a renter.
