A San Francisco home is listed for just $488,000 but there's a catch — you can't move in until 2053

At a time when real estate prices and rent in the U.S. continue to surge, finding spacious and affordable accommodation in an upscale neighborhood sounds like a dream. That's exactly what people feel about a three-bedroom apartment in San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood, which is up for sale for just $488,000. But the catch is that the buyer may not be able to move into the home for another 30 years. However, even with that caveat, the listing attracted a long list of prospective buyers back in June. 

The 1,100-square-foot home at 30 North View Court has three bedrooms and two baths. The price tag is raising eyebrows among neighbors and one of them, Ilia Smith told ABC 7 news, "I don't know what to make of it," before her husband Tim Smith added, "This all came as a big surprise to all of us on this street."

The listing posted on Zillow says the home is tenant-occupied and to be sold as-is. The listing also states that the tenant currently pays around $416.67 a month in rent, in addition to utilities. However Smith says, "Thirty years. I don't think I'll be around for that," while her husband explains, "The new owner would have to buy the house subject to a very long rental lease that is currently being offered to an individual,"

Attorney Steven MacDonald told ABC News, "For some reason, they gave this person a 30-year right of possession. I've seen that before. It's kind of a sloppy way of estate planning. 'I want to leave some security to this person so they don't have to worry about where they are going to live.' They can do it that way. I think they should have done it a different way."

He also clarified, "It's for a very, very unique buyer that's willing to get a big discount -- maybe two-thirds. Maybe pay $1 million for a $3 million house and wait 20 to 30 years before you can move in." 

The San Francisco metro area is one of the most expensive places to live in America and to be able to afford this locality Americans need to earn double the average. The average home value in Russian Hill is $1,468,100, after dropping by 5.1% over the past year, as per CNBC Make It. 

The tenants who are currently living in the home are Sandra Lee, 83, and her daughter, Cheryl Lee, 66, while it is Sandra’s son, Todd Lee, who is trying to sell the home against her wishes. Sandra told The San Francisco Standard that a lease that was written by her stepfather, who was the original owner of the house before he passed away, grants her long-term rent rate restrictions until 2053. "If it wasn’t for the lease that [my son] didn’t know about that was made in 2018, I don’t know where we’d be,” she said. “It’s unfathomable, the deception, the betrayal—this is my son doing this to me," she added.

Because of the unique conditions, the listing states that the seller cannot guarantee access to the home and strongly recommends that buyers review the seller disclosure.