13 Awesome Things You Can Buy For a Year’s Rent in San Francisco

For the price of a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco for one year, you could own a BMW Z4 hardtop, a Liberty Tax Service Franchise, a Japanese strawberry picking robot, the ultimate computer workstation, a mini sub, house in Chile, rescue hovercraft, giant diamond and more.

Kind of makes you want to move in with mom for a few months, doesn’t it?

According to real estate site Zillow, the median rent in San Francisco is now $4,225 per month. That’s $50,700 per year, just to pay the median San Francisco rent payment. For that price you don’t even get to paint the bedroom without asking for permission first.

Most of the rental properties available for that price in San Francisco are one or two bedroom units, less than 1,000 square feet.

san francisco median rent 4225

Rental prices in San Francisco just keep going up.

Here’s our list of cool things you can buy instead of paying a year’s median rent in San Francisco:

1. BMW Z4 sDrive28i

san fransico rent or bmw z4

The BMW Z4 sDrive28i is sleek, sexy and has an MSRP of $49,250. The car has a top horsepower of 335 and a top speed of 165 mph. The hardtop opens and closes in 19 seconds. The car comes with a circular instrument cluster in its leather-lined cockpit and a 7 speed dual clutch. Drivers can also choose a 6 speed manual or 8 speed automatic sport transmission.

The car’s inline 4 cylinder TwinPower turbo engine generated 260 lb-ft of torque at only 1,250 RPM. It’s also 20% more fuel efficient than the previous Z4 engine and displaces only 2 liters.

The car’s other features include power delivered intelligently to each wheel as needed, cornering break control and an adaptive suspension. Too bad you can’t sleep in it. Unless you’re really short.

2. Liberty Tax Service Franchise

rent san francisco or liberty tax franchiseIt’s hard to get ahead when you’re paying $50,700 a year in rent. Taking a one year break from filling the landlord’s pockets in San Francisco could save enough to buy a Liberty Tax Service franchise and have $700 left over for pencils.

Liberty Tax Service is the third largest tax prep service in the U.S.

Founded by Jackson Hewitt co-founder John Hewitt, the tax service was named in Forbes’ 2012 “Top 20 Franchises for the Buck” list. Liberty claims its franchises have produced hundreds of millionaire franchise owners. The overhead and inventory costs are minimal, the business and workforce are seasonal and there’s even financing available. Who knows, in a few years you may even be able to afford rent in San Francisco. (Statue of Liberty costume extra.)

3. A Japanese Robot That Picks Strawberries

Sure you’ve got a robot that picks strawberries. But have you got one that picks only ripe ones?

For $50,000, anyone can own this Japanese strawberry harvesting robot that only picks ripe, mature fruit.

Strawberry harvests are long lasting, and picking amounts to about a quarter of the work time. The strawberry picking robot works in a greenhouse, improves picking time by as much as 60% and works while other employees sleep.

The robot consists of an arm, picking hand, image sensor, traveling platform and tray storage.

4. A Dr. Evil Computer Workstation

rent in san francisco or dr evil workstation

Instead of paying rent for a year in San Francisco, you could own this sweet global domination workstation.

First you take over the world. Then you lower the rent in San Francisco.

The Emperor 200 luxury computer workstation comes with touchscreen controls, personal HEPA air filtration and electric powered seat for turning to address minions without expending muscular energy. It fits up to three 27 inch LED screens and also has built in light therapy in case you spend too many days in the dungeon.

The Emperor 200 retails for $49,150 or $1,550 less than the price of a year’s rent in San Francisco. Construction is aluminum framing with Italian leather seats. A 360 degree rotating programmable podium is extra. Imagine the looks of delight and then envy on your coworkers’ faces when you have this baby wheeled into the office. Warning: the max occupant weight is cut off at 350 lbs.

5. Seabreacher Extreme Mini Sub

Be honest, which would you rather do: pay rent in San Francisco for a year or drive around the ocean in a mechanical shark or swordfish?

Forget preconceptions about submarines being slow, sluggish and boxy. The Seabreacher is the underwater equivalent of a Ferrari. Piloting one of these sleek manned torpedoes is like driving a shark from the inside.

The mini subs can dive, roll, jump and do other aquatic tricks. They’re available in shark, killer whale, dolphin and sailfish.

The company’s website says the mini subs retail for $80,000 to $100,000, but we’ve seen reports online that the basic model sells for just $50,000. That’s less than a year’s rent in San Francisco.

6. House in Chilean Patagonia

rent in san francisco vs house in chileWhy rent in San Francisco when you can own in Patagonia? For less than the price of rent in San Francisco you can own this house in Chilean Patagonia.

This two bedroom house on an 81 square meter lot is located in scenic Villa Mañihuales in Southern Chile. It comes with a garage, bodega and several fruit trees. There’s also a gazebo with a fire pit for enjoying the gorgeous view. It sells for $50,000

The property is in proximity to the Andes mountains, numerous lakes and national parks. Internet service may be sporadic.

7. Rescue Hovercraft (Seats Four)

rent in san francisco or hovercraftThe four seater Hovertek rescue hovercraft comes fully assembled with all options for just $35,000. The hovercraft is made by Neoteric Inc. A larger version that seats six sells for $15,000 more, which is about the same as the median rent in San Francisco for a year.

Rescue hovercrafts allow first responders to perform safe, fast rescues on thin ice, swift water, snow and flood waters. Hovercrafts are supported above the terrain, keeping rescuers above danger instead of in it.

8. A Giant Diamond

rent in san francisco or a giant diamondFor about $50,000, you can buy a giant diamond from Blue Nile online.

A 3 Carat diamond is about the size of a small grape. This diamond has excellent cut, color and clarity. It’s a little yellower than the whitest diamonds but the size, cut and sparkle will overshadow that any day.

With a rock like that in your pocket, you might even be able to convince that special someone it’s O.K. that you live in your mom’s basement.

Other Cool Things You Could Own Instead of Paying a Year’s Rent in San Francisco

rent in san francisco or house in pa

Buy this four bedroom house in PA for less than the median rent in San Francisco for a year.

Here are a few other things you could own instead of paying the median rent in San Francisco for a year:

  • 17 Tesla Powerwall home batteries at $3,000 each
  • 3 gold Apple Watch Editions at $17,000 each.
  • 7.68 Flyboard water jet boards at $6,600 each
  • 1,860 sq ft house in Huntingdon, PA for $49,950
  • Brand new Bryant 210 Bowrider ski boat for $47,500

In case you’re wondering what a Flyboard is and haven’t seen their awesome video yet, here it is:

Sources:

Zillow.com

Franshisegator.com

Yapo.cl