Chase Thompson spent three years bouncing around the globe for Samsung, visiting 20 countries and living out of a suitcase. When a Mountain View tech company offered him a role he couldn’t refuse, the Montana native figured it was time to plant some roots back in the Bay Area. But after four months of corporate housing in Silicon Valley, he knew the South Bay wasn’t for him. “Zero desire”, he said of living near his office. “It’s so family-oriented, and everything closes at 10 p.m”.

So Thompson set his sights on San Francisco instead. As a newcomer to the city, he didn’t know the Mission from Mission Bay, but he knew he wanted to be on the south side for his commute. He started driving up regularly to vibe-check neighborhoods, eventually ruling out the Sunset for being too sleepy and SoMa for being too sterile. By early summer 2025, he was obsessively refreshing Zillow as the rental market exploded.

Then something unexpected happened: He accidentally clicked the “buy” button instead of “rent”. But when he did the math, he realized that monthly mortgage payments on a $900,000 Dogpatch condo would actually be comparable to what he’d pay in rent. Maybe buying wasn’t totally out of reach.

Thompson knew he needed to move fast, so he searched for a low-fee real estate option and found TurboHome, an Oakland-based AI-assisted brokerage that charged a flat $7,500 fee instead of the traditional 2.5% to 3% commission. More importantly, it matched his preference for a hands-off approach. “I didn’t want a Realtor in my ear constantly”, he said.

His first offer on the Dogpatch place came in $50,000 below asking and got rejected. But TurboHome’s AI sent him another listing: a lower-floor condo in a 1995 Potrero Hill building. The split-level layout with double-height ceilings, abundant natural light, and that corner-unit charm immediately won him over. Sure, there were dated light switches and worn carpeting everywhere, but he saw past the cosmetic issues. At under $1 million with parking and an in-unit washer-dryer nearby, it felt like a win.

His agent, Donny Suh, warned that a $900,000 offer might not cut it. Thompson was on vacation in Montana when he submitted it, mentally preparing himself to be a renter for the foreseeable future. Instead, his was the only offer. The property went into contract.

After closing in late August, Thompson spent $50,000 on renovations, mostly installing light-oak hardwood floors throughout and adding vertical wood slats in the primary bedroom. He moved in at the end of October and finally had something he’d never had as an adult: a real home.

His estimated monthly payment sits around $4,200, less than he’d pay for a comparable rental in the neighborhood. Friends were shocked until he broke down the numbers, including the mortgage interest deduction and the interest rate bought down with his savings from lower agent fees. For the first time, Thompson isn’t planning to move anytime soon. “I’ve lived in 10 different places in 10 years”, he said. “Once you buy a place, you are committed”.