Team K.Ho · Vanguard Properties
During your search you’ll find a renovated flat in a handsome Edwardian, in exactly the right neighborhood, at a price that seems too good. Then you read the words “tenancy in common,” or the acronym T-I-C, and wonder what it means. Congratulations — you’ve discovered a San Francisco treat. A TIC may look like a condo and feel like a condo. It is not a condo, and the difference moves the price.
Everyone must sign the TIC Agreement — and every sale needs an Assumption and Release. If an owner is on title but never signs, they may have what looks like the right to occupy any part of the property, and the sheriff is powerless to intervene at first. A comprehensive, fully signed agreement is what makes “Unit 2A” actually mean your unit.
Part of any property’s value is how many ready, willing, and able buyers exist for it. Because only a few lenders touch TICs, the buyer pool is smaller, demand is softer, and the price is generally lower than the same space would fetch as a condo — unless something special (a view, location, finishes, or conversion-readiness) lifts it.
The MLS bears this out. Across 1,628 closed San Francisco TIC sales since late 2020, the discount and the recovery both show up clearly:
In other words, in 2025 the typical TIC closed about $160,000 below the typical condo — roughly the same money a successful condo conversion tends to add back. The yearly track shows the post-2022 repricing and the climb since:
| Year (Close Date) | Closed TIC Sales | Median Price |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 395 | $1,050,000 |
| 2022 | 296 | $1,075,000 |
| 2023 | 255 | $900,000 |
| 2024 | 232 | $980,000 |
| 2025 | 297 | $1,000,100 |
| 2026 (through mid-June) | 125 | $1,210,000 |
The volume tells you where TICs actually live: District 5 — Noe, the Castro, the Haight, Twin Peaks — led with 423 closings at a $1.11M median, the heart of the Victorian and Edwardian TIC belt. By size, one-bedrooms cleared a $720K median, two-bedrooms $975K, and three-bedrooms $1.4M.
That discount is also the opportunity. A TIC that can convert is really a pre-condo with value waiting to be unlocked: converting can raise market value by roughly 10–20%, depending on circumstances, location, and finish level — which, against a ~14% starting discount, is most or all of the gap back. The trade is straightforward:
One note on income: while rent and eviction control apply, you can set the initial rent at any number you like — just be happy with it, because you never know how long a tenant stays. When they leave, you reset for the next one.
When you buy a multi-unit building together, you don’t get individual deeds. The group buys an undivided interest in the whole property and holds it as tenants in common, governed by a private contract — the TIC Agreement, which is something like a pre-nup. It spells out which unit is whose, how common expenses and property taxes are split, and the rules on pets, noise, renting, and remodeling.
Everyone must sign — this is not a formality. If someone is on title but never signs the agreement, they may hold what looks like super-rights: the ability to access and use any part of the property, with no one (not even the sheriff) able to stop them at first. A comprehensive, fully signed TIC Agreement is what makes “Unit 2” mean Unit 2.
TICs cluster where the buildings are older and the locations are coveted — one reason an old building can’t be torn down is that it’s historic. Many TIC buildings began as early-20th-century apartment houses: Victorian, Edwardian, with some Art Deco for good measure, in the dense urban cores everyone wants. Think Noe Valley, the Mission, Hayes Valley, Duboce, and Telegraph Hill. There’s also a whole swath of mid-century TICs around Upper Market, Diamond Heights, and Twin Peaks.
Want the leading TIC attorneys? Your source materials name a few specialist firms in this space—rather than print names that may have shifted, we'll share current referrals directly. Just ask and we'll connect you.
The right answer depends on the specific building—its agreement, its lenders, and whether conversion is realistic. Send us the listing and we'll read it with you, candidly and without the hard sell.
Ask Us About a BuildingKevin Ho · Team K.Ho, Vanguard Properties
team-kho.com · 415.297.7462 · DRE #01875957
Kevin Ho is a licensed California real estate agent (DRE #01875957) and attorney with Vanguard Properties. This guide is for general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. San Francisco condo-conversion eligibility, the Subdivision Code, Rent Ordinance, City fees and timelines are detailed and subject to change; consult a qualified condo-conversion attorney, the Department of Public Works, and your CPA and lender before proceeding.
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