SF land for under $1,000 sounds like a joke. On Tuesday, three of these lots sold.
The catch is that the land sits under water.
The lots are at 151 Fitzgerald Ave., 0 Bancroft Ave. and 215 Tevis St., near Candlestick Park. Each one covers 5,000 square feet of bay floor.
The listings called them "a unique chance."
The Pitch
Vantage Auctions ran the sale. Its admin, Marie Bradley, said buyers could try oil drilling, or push the land out into the bay if the tide ever pulls back.
The listings also floated boat docking and "land banking."
In plain English: you might own a slice of SF shoreline one day, but only if the bay shrinks or the city changes its rules.
For under $1,000, being wrong costs about as much as a nice dinner. That is why these auctions even happen.
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The Catch
Don Cruz Datanagan, from Serhant's Northern California office, was less excited. He told SFGATE the lots have "very limited" use today and still come with yearly taxes and red tape.
Owning the bay floor does not mean you can build on it, and Datanagan said it gives no right to use the waterfront either.
The Bancroft lot sits far from shore, with other submerged lots between it and dry land. That raises real questions about access.
The bottom line: the buyer pays for a deed, not for a buildable lot or a dock, just for the right to say they own a piece of the bay.
Even if a buyer wanted to build, they would still need sign-off from city, state and coastal agencies. None of that is fast or cheap.
Why It Keeps Happening
Odd lots like this pop up in the Bay Area every few years.
In 2023, a man bought a 10,000-square-foot Alameda lot for $300,000, then found out it sat under water and tried to flip it for $400,000.
Last year, a non-buildable cliff lot in Carmel-by-the-Sea hit the market for $100,000. It was sold as a spot to bring a chair and watch the sun set.
California has a small but steady supply of "land you can't really use," and there is always a buyer willing to roll the dice.
The same kind of buyer scoops up oddities at tax sales and auctions across the state each year.
What To Watch
Lots like this rarely change hands. When they do, the math says more about the buyer than the bay.
Someone just bet a few hundred bucks that SF's waterfront will look very different in 20 years, and the city has time to prove them right or wrong.
The next test is whether more of these lots come to market, since sea level rise, new zoning rules or fresh public works could each shift their value.
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