Source of homebuying funds, roommate/sleeping situation AND brownie recipe: REVEALED!
The brownies — baked just for the Chronicle reporter’s visit — were straight-out-of-a-box. The five-room condo is listed as a two bedroom, two bath by Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, but someone’s sleeping in the living room what its owner calls a third bedroom, so Supervisor Chris Daly has his own, private room in his Stevenson Street condominium (though Daly insists the place is more of a three-bedroom, when you count the “bonus room,” which has its own closet).
“We (that is, Daly’s brother-in-law and his girlfriend, and a third, male, mystery roommate) share the (one shower), but really that’s the only downside,” Daly told The Appeal on Monday. “Otherwise it’s really a great spot for this kind of shared housing situation. Better than it is for a family with kids.”
And the money — the straight cash, homie, with which the two homes in Fairfield were purchased — came from his parents, who took out a line of equity loan on their home in Washington, D.C. suburbs central Virginia to lend their son and daughter-in-law $545,000 close to $600,000.
Cue the “spoiled rich trust fund baby” music now (but reserve some of that for Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, whose parents co-signed the loan for his new home, a $1.2 million four bedroom, 2,400-square foot pad in Miraloma Park).
“My parents had the opportunity to get an equity line of credit… and they were nice enough to loan Sarah and I the money for the purchase (for the first home in February). And then they were double-dog nice enough to do it again two months later.”
Daly’s folks, who did this because “they love their grandkids,” are being paid back by Sarah Low Daly and Supervisor Chris, who have a “super-low interest rate” in so doing — 0.5 percent below the prime interest rate, exactly what the elder Dalys are being charged on the loan.
And to be fair, even if they did take out a loan of their very own, the mortgage payments would be almost 1/3 less than the median price of a one-bedroom apartment in the 415 — about $1,200 a month each (in contrast, Zillow.com told us that Elsbernd’s mortgage payment is closer to $5,000 a month. Yikes!)
Other details:
- Daly’s roommates are paying rent — “That’s one of the main reasons for roommates,” Daly told us.
- This is the second time Daly’s brother-in-law and brother-in-law’s girlfriend have called 1346 Stevenson Street home — the first time was “for a few weeks” starting in January, after they came off of the Obama campaign.
- They Daly-Low condo also houses the brother-in-law and his girlfriend’s dog, named Linus. Presumably, his use of the residence’s single shower is minimal.
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