In this video, lawyer‑turned real‑estate agent Austin Klar provides a comprehensive tour of San Francisco’s St. Francis Wood neighborhood. He begins by establishing his personal credibility and invites viewers to contact him for relocation assistance. Klar describes the area’s historic and architectural significance: a nationally registered historic place, one of eight master‑planned residence parks, designed by the Olmsted brothers, with homes by Julia Morgan and William Merchant, all detached and set back from the street. He outlines the demographic profile – about 1,200 residents, average household income ~$230k, 80% homeownership, top‑ranked schools such as Lowell High. The physical layout features wide streets, large sidewalks, private parks, extensive landscaping, and a suburban feel uncommon in San Francisco. Transportation is discussed: a 20‑minute drive to downtown, a nearby bus line, and a strong recommendation to own a car because the enclave lacks grocery stores, restaurants, or other businesses. He explains the homeowners association (HOA) fees ($300‑$500/month) that fund the upkeep of private parks. Real‑estate market data is presented: only 14 homes sold in 2022, average sale price $4.2 million (vs. $2.2 million citywide), large lot sizes, and high rents (average > $6,000/month). Klar concludes by emphasizing the neighborhood’s family‑friendly, affluent, and unique character, urging prospective movers to consider St. Francis Wood and to reach out to him directly.
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Wanna know what it's like to live in a nationally registered historic place with some of the most beautiful homes and ocean views in all of San Francisco? This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent and real estate developer in San Francisco, and this video is all about the St. Francis Wood neighborhood. I've lived in multiple neighborhoods all across San Francisco, giving me in-depth firsthand knowledge of what it's like to live and work in the city. If you're thinking about relocating, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I'd be more than happy to help you., and if you like videos just like this, please consider subscribing to my channel, and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video. All right, so this video is all about the St. Francis Wood neighborhood. It's located in the southwest part of the city near West Portal and Mount Davidson neighborhoods. It has a very small population. It's only about 1,200 people who live there, and it's a very, very affluent part of the city with an average income of about $230,000. The area is probably the most suburban neighborhood in all of San Francisco due to the zoning restrictions that have been put in place over time there. There's not a single business or a single multifamily unit in St. Francis Wood. It is completely made up of all single-family homes, most of which are historically protected. Another thing that's unique about the St. Francis Wood neighborhood's makeup is that almost 80% of the population who lives there actually owns their homes. There are very few rentals in that neighborhood, uh, compared to a lot of other areas in the city where you see a more 60/40 split in favor of ownership versus rentals. It's a great place for families with younger children. Some of the best schools in in the county, like Lowell High School, which is consistently ranked in the top 20 in the entire country, serve the St. Francis Wood community. There are a lot of other good schools there. It's a very walkable area, a lot of private parks that are dedicated to the residents in that area, making it very, very private, very family-friendly. St. Francis Wood is actually one of 8 master-planned residence parks in San Francisco, and in June of 2022, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, you know, mainly due to the architectural history of the neighborhood. The layout was designed by the famous landscape architects, the Olmsted brothers, whose family ran the very first landscape architecture firm in the country. And some world-famous architects like Julia Morgan and William Merchant have, you know, designed homes there. Another thing that's unique about the architecture in St. Francis Wood is that the area there is characterized by single-family homes that are all detached. And in a lot of other areas, even the more affluent neighborhoods of San Francisco, a lot of the homes are built up to the lot line. There are no lot line setbacks in San Francisco, so you can build homes directly to the edge of your lot. And that's why A lot of these homes, like in Noe Valley and Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights, are stacked on top of each other. But in St. Francis Wood, every single home is fully detached on all sides, like you see in a lot of other neighborhoods across the country. Because of the way the homes are set up in St. Francis Wood, fully detached and set back from the streets, you have a lot bigger front yards, which you don't usually get in San Francisco. You have a lot more landscaping and a lot more green spaces in the area. The streets are also a lot wider in St. Francis Wood, making it really easy to drive around in the area. There are large sidewalks, so it's super easy to walk around. A lot of neighborhoods in San Francisco either have narrow sidewalks or no sidewalks at all. This makes it very family-friendly and very safe for people who are, you know, walking or jogging in the neighborhood. Because of how much landscaping and, you know, decoration there is there, it really does feel like you're living in a park. There are multiple monuments and decorative landscape areas, you know, throughout the area. And because they're all detached and they have, you know, big landscape areas, a lot of hedges and private spaces, a lot of these homes feel more private than a lot of other homes do. In the rest of San Francisco where your neighbors are a little bit more on top of each other. Although the neighborhood is a bit far from downtown San Francisco, it's about a 20-minute drive, there's a nearby bus line that will take you pretty much anywhere you need to get to in the city. But it is one of the few areas in the city where I would actually recommend that you have a car because there aren't any businesses, not even like grocery stores and restaurants in the St. Francis Wood community. You need to go out of the community to get basic necessities or if you want to have a night out or something like that. So because parking is readily available in the area, every single home has has big driveways and garages, which is not the case everywhere else in San Francisco. I definitely recommend that if you are going to live there, you own a car, and it's very easy to own a car there. Now, even though there aren't really any bars or restaurants in St. Francis Wood itself, the neighboring areas do have a lot of that. So it's a short drive to, you know, the Stonestown area, which has a mall and a lot of bars, shops, and restaurants. In addition to Stonestown, the neighborhood is also just a short drive to, you know, the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, which The 24th Street area has a ton of bars, shops, and restaurants as well. It's only a 15-20 minute drive to downtown, so you have all of the shops and bars and restaurants that you do in and around downtown as well. Pretty accessible from where you live. Unlike most other neighborhoods in San Francisco, the St. Francis Wood community is governed by a homeowners association, so people who live there do pay an HOA fee. It's between $300 and $500 a month depending on the lot to live there. And so what does that go to? There are a lot of private parks parks and landscaped areas in the St. Francis Wood community that those fees go toward preserving. And all— a lot of those areas are private park spaces just for the residents of St. Francis Wood, which, you know, makes them some of the most well-maintained parks in the city because, again, St. Francis Wood only has 1,200 people in it, and not even all of those people, you know, use the park. So it's a very small segment of the population that is actually using the parks day to day, so all of them are in very, very nice condition. Homes in St. Francis Wood don't come on the market that often. 14 homes sold in St. Francis Wood homes in 2022 for an average price of $4.2 million. Comparing that to the average price of a single-family home in all of San Francisco, $2.2 million, you can see that the St. Francis Wood community is, you know, a lot more expensive than the, you know, average home in San Francisco and very in line with some of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city like Presidio Heights and Pacific Heights. Now while that is expensive from like a hard dollar amount standpoint, a lot of these homes are some of the biggest homes in the city. It's very rare to find something there that's, you know, under 3,500, under 4,000 square feet. So these are very big homes. They are all on oversized lots compared to lots that are elsewhere in the city. So you really do get a lot of value there. You know, your, your $4.2 million average home there is going to go a lot farther from a home standpoint and lot standpoint than it would, say, in comparable neighborhoods like Seacliff, Cow Hollow, and the Marina. And not only do you get, you know, bigger lots and big houses, your lots are fully detached. So you have like a true front yard, true backyards, and those private park spaces as well. So your money does really go pretty pretty far. Now, as I mentioned, there aren't really condos or multi-family buildings in the area. So if you are thinking about living in St. Francis Wood, you're gonna have to buy a single-family home. So, you know, that $4+ million price point, uh, that I just talked about is, is what you should be expecting to spend in the area for a home that's in decent condition. There aren't a lot of rentals there, but because all the homes there tend to be larger, you can expect your monthly rent is going to be a lot more expensive than, you know, the typical home or typical condo in the rest of San Francisco. You know, your average rent there is over $6,000 a month. That's the scoop on the St. Francis Wood community. It is one of the most beautiful and most family-friendly neighborhoods in all of San Francisco. So if you are considering moving to San Francisco, definitely recommend you at least go check it out. It is a very, very unique, very cool neighborhood. If you are thinking of relocating, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I would be more than happy to help you. And if you like videos just like this, please subscribe to my channel and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video. Hello, I'm Austin Klar.
