With over 2,500 units expected to enter San Francisco’s 2012 condominium conversion lottery to be held on the first of February, and with only two hundred (200) rights to convert to be won, under one in twelve of the entering units will win this year versus one in five when 994 units applied in 2003.
The deadline to enter the 2012 lottery is this Friday, January 20 at 4:45 PM. And based on the current lottery structure and backlog, new entrants can expect to apply for up to 15 years before winning the right to start navigating the waters to convert as charted above.
In 2010, San Francisco’s Budget and Finance Committee voted 3-1 to kill a proposed one-time condo conversion lottery bypass for a fee intended to help clear the lottery backlog while raising a projected $8 million dollars for affordable housing.
San Francisco Condominium Conversion: 2012 Lottery Details [sfdpw.org]
Condo Conversion 2011: Are You Feeling Lucky Punk? Well, Are You? [SocketSite]
Budget and Finance Committee Kills Condo Lottery Bypass For A Fee [SocketSite]
Condo Lottery Bypass For A Fee Resurfaces In Mayor’s New Budget [SocketSite]

7 thoughts on “Condominium Conversion 2012 Lottery Deadline And Odds (Against)”
  1. The odds are much longer than you imply for most entrants. Half of the units are spoken for by the most “senior” of the entrants, so you have 2,400 units competing for 100 slots. It has reached the point where you’re better off buying California lottery tickets with your money…

  2. However, are all of those 2,400 equally judged? are entrants with a 2-unit conversion judged the same as those with 5 or so units?

  3. @DanRH – 2 unit buildings can convert as of right. Anything above is not weighted by quality or anything else, but you get extra entries for each lottery in which you were declined. That’s why first time entrants very seldom win.

  4. @Jeremy, just to clarify your response a bit, 2 unit buildings can convert without going through the lottery if the building has a clean eviction history, and the 2 units have each been owner occupied for a period of one year by separate non-married individuals.

  5. Is it true that if a 2-unit building is split between two owners and one owner lives in each unit, they can fast track and bypass the lottery to convert after a year?

  6. @ezcrusin. This question comes up all the time on here. I could tell you, but I think you should do the following. When it comes to condo conversion questions it is best to Google real estate professionals in San Francisco, such as G3MH: http://www.g3mh.com/category/articles/ or Jeff Woo (www.mypropertyrightscom –once he gets his new website up– ). Because when you pose questions to this site you will have knowledgeable people weigh in here. But they will sometimes not be thorough. You will also have people who shouldn’t be talking saying things, creating confusion and mixed messages. So don’t bother. Go to a real source.

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