How Sarah Saved $1,200+ on Her San Francisco Property Taxes With a Prop 8 Appeal

The Property

Sarah owns a one-bedroom, one-bathroom TIC unit in downtown San Francisco. Her unit sits on the second floor of a 39-unit building on Mason Street, built in 1927. At 908 square feet, it's a classic San Francisco stock cooperative — charming, well-maintained, and in an above-average condition neighborhood near Nob Hill.

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She purchased the unit in December 2018 for $695,000.

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The Problem

For the January 1, 2024 lien date, the San Francisco Assessor's Office valued Sarah's property at $760,080 — that's $837 per square foot.

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However, the market told a different story.

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Comparable units in her own building and nearby had sold for significantly less. One unit six floors above hers in the same building sold for $730,000. A similar unit at 1201 California Street sold for $666,000. These weren't distressed sales — they were open market transactions from 2023.

Sarah's assessment didn't reflect what buyers were actually paying for units like hers. She was being taxed on a number that didn't match reality.

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Key Insight: the valuation is as of January 1, so even though the market values increased by the tax assessment notice date, we protested based on values of Jan 1.

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The Challenge

Sarah filed her Prop 8 appeal with the Assessment Appeals Board in September 2024. But once the hearing date was set for January 2026, she realized she had a problem.

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The city didn't give her much to work with.

"I actually had no good guidance from the city apart from getting comps from a real estate agent and utilizing the city's own portal to make my own argument."

She knew her assessment was too high. She just didn't know how to prove it in a way that would hold up at a hearing against a professional assessor armed with their own market analysis.

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How TaxDrop Helped

Sarah used TaxDrop to get a professional-grade evidence report for her appeal. The report included:

• Comparable sales analysis — Three carefully selected comps from her building and neighborhood, with detailed adjustments for floor level, views, condition, and square footage
• Market conditions context — Qualitative analysis of buyer sentiment and external factors impacting San Francisco's condo and TIC market
• Clear summary of findings — Plain-language conclusions that made the case easy to present at the hearing
• Per-square-foot benchmarking — Data showing the assessed $837/sqft was well above the $615–$669 range supported by recent sales

The report gave Sarah something the city portal couldn't — a complete argument with the kind of qualitative context that moves a hearing in your favor.

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The Result

At her January 22, 2026 hearing, Sarah presented TaxDrop's evidence alongside the assessor's own comparable sales presentation.

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The board agreed. Sarah's assessment was reduced from $760,080 to $650,000.

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That's a $110,080 reduction — roughly 15% — and translates to over $1,200 in annual tax savings refunded directly to her.