Solano Real Estate Scene: Give thanks for homeownership

Solano Real Estate Scene: Jim Porter

Article By: Jim Porter – December 2, 2022

From 1960 to 1970, my mom and dad rented 1290 41st Ave. in the Sunset District of San Francisco, a 1,250-square-foot, bottom floor, two-bedroom, one-bath flat one block from Golden Gate Park and eight blocks from Ocean Beach.

Our next-door neighbors were Mani Glanz, my brother’s godmother, 1 inch away on one side and Charlie’s Market, a corner store, on the other.

After four boys in a row, my sister Suzanne was born. We had us four boys in bunkbeds in one bedroom and Suzi got my parents’ bedroom. Mom and Dad moved to a fold-out couch in the living room.

In late 1969, somehow, Mom became pregnant with my kid brother Rob, and with a little help from my grandpa, they bought a 35-year-old, 2,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath home six blocks away for $32,500 with 10% down, and obtained a 25-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.5%.

As the story goes, my mom had to threaten my dad with bodily harm to sign the loan docs and closing papers at the title company because my dad was worried about the payment at $350, which was $125 more than the rent they were paying Mr. Popov, our kind and considerate landlord.

Baby boy No. 6 and baby girl No. 7 were both born in the home and missed out on the experience of a family of seven living in two bedrooms with only one bathroom.

I am sure it was tough on my mom but us little kids loved it, and other than the quarterly ER visits for stitches from our wrestling matches around the fireplace and jumping from one top bunk to the other, the memories of living in that flat are great.

My dad died a couple of years ago and my mom is still kicking, and that awesome American Dream four-bedroom home is still in the family.

We sadly lost boy No. 4, Merlin, when he was only 18, but the six of us who are left are thankful that not only did Mom and Dad feed us and keep a roof over all our stitched-up heads, but they also became homeowners and gave us a home of our own.

Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.