{"id":616,"date":"2017-11-08T06:29:59","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T22:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2017\/11\/08\/asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco\/"},"modified":"2025-01-04T16:53:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T08:53:50","slug":"asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian Couple Buys Entire Street In San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>In a stroke of luck, a Bay Area couple was able to buy one of the richest and most exclusive streets in San Francisco \u2014 for $90,000.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In a stroke of luck, a Bay Area couple was able to buy one of the richest and most exclusive streets in San Francisco \u2014 for $90,000.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FgLrJquifEi7H2j_SholCjL_nnnW?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"Presidio_Terrace_homes.jpg\" width=\"589\" height=\"471\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco\/#The_street_went_up_for_auction_after_residents_failed_to_pay_994_in_property_taxes_Photo_nextsharkcom\" title=\"The street went up for auction after residents failed to pay $994 in property taxes \u00a0Photo:\u00a0nextshark.com\">The street went up for auction after residents failed to pay $994 in property taxes \u00a0Photo:\u00a0nextshark.com<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco\/#Tina_Lam_Michael_Cheng_Photo_Nextshark\" title=\"Tina Lam &amp; Michael Cheng\u00a0 Photo: Nextshark\">Tina Lam &amp; Michael Cheng\u00a0 Photo: Nextshark<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco\/#Photo_nextsharkcom\" title=\"Photo: nextshark.com\">Photo: nextshark.com<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco\/#Photo_nextsharkcom-2\" title=\"Photo: nextshark.com\">Photo: nextshark.com<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_street_went_up_for_auction_after_residents_failed_to_pay_994_in_property_taxes_Photo_nextsharkcom\"><\/span>The street went up for auction after residents failed to pay $994 in property taxes \u00a0Photo:\u00a0nextshark.com<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The well-off residents of Presidio Terrace, an exclusive San Francisco neighborhood filled with mega-mansions, aren&#8217;t happy.<\/p>\n<p>According to the San Francisco Chronicle, they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/jobs\">recently found<\/a> out their private street was bought by a couple from San Jose, Tina Lam, and Michael Cheng, more than two years ago in an auction.<\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tina_Lam_Michael_Cheng_Photo_Nextshark\"><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FnZSXXcNv3mAc2PTn6lWz6pkeVNC?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"nextshark.com1.png\" width=\"663\" height=\"352\" title=\"\">Tina Lam &amp; Michael Cheng\u00a0 Photo: Nextshark<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The sale price? $90,000.<\/p>\n<p>The purchase &#8220;appears to be the <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/dictionary\/english\/culmination\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">culmination<\/a> of a comedy of errors involving a $14-a-year property tax bill that the homeowners association failed to pay for three decades,&#8221;\u00a0according to the Chronicle.<\/p>\n<p>The unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest added up to $994 \u2014 a mere fraction of the purchase price for the street, sidewalks, and &#8220;common ground&#8221; that Lam and Cheng now control.<\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_nextsharkcom\"><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FoXE4cGzIRTuMn8epcv-6_S4NvGf?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"nextshark.com2.png\" width=\"603\" height=\"494\" title=\"\">Photo: nextshark.com<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The 35-property community is adjacent to the equally wealthy Presidio Heights, where the\u00a0median home value\u00a0sits just above $5 million,\u00a0according to Zillow.\u00a0Presidio Terrace has been managed by its homeowners since 1905 and is guarded by round-the-clock security at its stone-gate entrance.<\/p>\n<p>The homeowners claim the annual tax bill was, unbeknownst to them, sent to an unused address since the 1980s. But a spokeswoman from the treasurer-tax collector&#8217;s office says it&#8217;s the homeowners&#8217; responsibility to keep tabs on their bills.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FjemAc03c5uOAARDSnqWSvxyMyTb?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"nextshark.com4.png\" width=\"604\" height=\"337\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_nextsharkcom-2\"><\/span>Photo: nextshark.com<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&#8220;Ninety-nine percent of property owners in San Francisco know what they need to do, and they pay their taxes on time \u2014 and they keep their mailing address up to date,&#8221; Amanda Fried told the Chronicle.<\/p>\n<p>In July, the Presidio Terrace Association filed suit against the city, asking for the sale to be reversed and blocking Lam and Cheng from selling the street while the appeal is pending.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FoYcIcJgc1_-mrLo8Sr9X20g5o72?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"wenweipo.png\" width=\"589\" height=\"375.2700421940928\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Photo: Wenweipo<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>But residents are skeptical they&#8217;ll actually do it, according to the Chronicle, some suspecting &#8220;it&#8217;s part of a pressure campaign by the couple to force the homeowners association to shell out big bucks to buy back the street.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The couple doesn&#8217;t appear to be in any rush to sell, however.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a first-generation immigrant, and the first time I came to San Francisco I fell in love with the city,&#8221; said Lam, who was born in Hong Kong, came to the US for college, and now works as an engineer in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FlXXlKXBxtykYAuKbjvAxKMwIbVH?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"GIC.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"488.9643463497453\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a stroke of luck, a Bay Area couple was able to buy one of the richest and most exclusive streets in San Francisco \u2014 for $90,000. In a stroke &#8230;","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[3652,60,306,29,34],"class_list":["post-616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-asian-couple-buys-entire-street-in-san-francisco","tag-china","tag-hiredchina","tag-jobs","tag-jobs-in-china"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25805,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions\/25805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}