I’m delighted to welcome Aaron Colen to our brokerage. Aaron is a seasoned real estate developer and investor whose experience with real property opportunity assessments and his strategic approach to deal structuring will prove to be a valuable asset to our clients. Aaron is an HOA board member at the St. Regis Residences in San Francisco and is actively involved in Bay Area real estate development projects.
Paying Property Taxes in San Francisco
Why are Property Taxes Important?
Property taxes support vital city services, such as police, fire, public health, and parks and recreation. in 2018, property taxes in San Francisco totaled over $3 billion and made up about 25% of the entire revenue collected by the City. The Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector collects roughly $5.2 billion in revenue annually.
Property owners pay secured property taxes, which are calculated based on the real property’s assessed value as determined annually by the Office of the Assessor-Recorder. Secured property tax bills are mailed during the first two weeks of October. You may pay them in two installments or all at once.
The secured property tax rate for Fiscal Year 2019-20 in San Francisco is 1.1801%.
Other types of Property Taxes:
There are parcel taxes that have been passed by voters over the years that support SF Unified School District and City College of SF in providing modern facilities and quality education. More information about these taxes can be found at sfusd.edu and ccsf.edu.
Secured Supplemental Taxes:
State law requires that the Office of the Assessor-Recorder reappraise a property upon change of ownership or when a new construction development is completed. If the property is reappraised at a higher value, which is often the case in San Francisco, then a supplemental tax bill will be issued based on the difference between the prior value and the new appraised value. Secured Supplemental taxes are often prorated for a portion of the fiscal year, based on the date of sale or date of construction.
Community Facilities District or Mello-Roos Taxes:
Other taxes, such as Community Facilities District taxes (more commonly known as Mello-Roos taxes) are special district taxes established by local governments in California as a means of obtaining additional public funding. There are many properties in San Francisco that are subject to Mello-Roos taxes in addition to annual property taxes. Be sure to speak with your agent about which properties have such taxes since they can be a significant annual burden that the owner is responsible to pay for many years.
The following are some Property Tax dates about which you should be aware:
In July, the Assessor mails taxpayers a Notice of Assessed Value. More information about what this means and how to appeal the Assessor’s determination of value for your property can be found at sfassessor.org.
In September, Property tax rates are approved by the Board of Supervisors.
Around October 15th of each year, all taxpayers will have received property tax bill. Escape or supplemental tax bills may be issued in addition to the annual tax bill due to a change in ownership or for new construction.
Property taxes are due in two installments. The deadline to pay the first installment of property taxes is December 10th. The deadline for payment of the second installment is on April 10th of the following year.
Seniors and People with Disabilities:
The State Controller’s Property Tax Postponement Program allows homeowners who are seniors, are blind, or have a disability to defer current-year property taxes if they meed certain criteria. For more information, go to www.sco.ca.gov and search for property tax postponement.
For More Information:
If you have any questions about paying property taxes in the City and County of San Francisco, you may visit sftreasurer.org or call 311 within SF.
Top 3 Reasons Why Clients Choose Bedrock when Buying or Selling their Homes
The best results in real estate are derived from a combination of a strong team, sound strategy, reasonable client cooperation, and favorable market conditions. Clients typically understand that a competent agent will try their best, within ethical bounds, to obtain the most favorable price and terms for a client. Market conditions are a factor that isn’t in any individual’s full control. In this article, we’ll focus on the first two factors: strong team and sound strategy to illustrate how Bedrock is a real estate firm unlike any other.
1. Your Personal Team of Strategists
We liken every transaction to an important board decision at an enterprise tech company and have personal experience sitting on those boards. No detail is overlooked.
When we represent sellers, Bedrock’s team goes all in to service our clients with market, legal, and marketing advice and we start by hammering out a schedule for client approval at the earliest possible opportunity so that we can tighten our timelines to prepare and sell properties. We rely on a vetted crew of contractors and stagers who can correct any deficiencies and make your property look its best prior to listing it for sale.
When we represent buyers, we offer a comprehensive list of contractors and vendors that service virtually every homeowner requirement and we stick around after the transaction has closed to ensure that our buyers’ needs are met. We do not accept any kickbacks or referral fees from contractors in our network since we want to ensure that clients are truly getting the best service that satisfies their needs, not ours.
2. We Provide Legal Advice
A real estate transaction is, for most people, the largest purchase that they will make in their lives. Diligence is extremely important in these transactions, both prior to a purchase and after a property is sold. Leila Banijamali founded Bedrock after spending many years as a tech lawyer, negotiating complex transactions for some of the most successful enterprise tech companies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
In carrying forward this tradition of negotiating excellence, we ensure that our clients are protected and receive the best legal advice with detailed deal structuring and post-purchasing assistance. We can do this because our firm is entirely attorney-owned so our clients can obtain legal advice related to their transactions. This service is not and cannot be offered by most traditional real estate agents and brokerages.
3. We are Tech Company Leaders and HOA Board Members
Two of our key team members, Leila Banijamali and Aaron Colen, are experienced real estate investors and HOA board members in luxury condo buildings in downtown San Francisco. They are intimately familiar with the nuances of condo financials, maintenance, and value appreciation, making them a unique condo sales team that is unmatched by any other agent in the City. Leila is also a co-founder and CEO of Symbium, which is a tech company that she launched in 2018 with her Stanford co-founders after accepting a Stanford CodeX Fellowship in 2017.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in San Francisco, contact us to learn how we will work hard to earn your business.