Property hijinx

"Who is it?" I shout into my buzzer.

"We've come to see the condo," she says.

"My neighbor's condo is on sale. Please buzz 9." I tell her.

It happened three times. Downstairs, I notice: the apartment number on the "For Sale" placard is wrong.

That's my afternoon. It's nasty outside, I'm sleepy, and apartment prices in San Francisco are going into the "crazy" stratosphere.

I just saw the place. It's decent, nothing fantastic. The jazzed up place has 2 fair-sized bedrooms, 2 baths, skylights. View is good. A parking spot. My building's construction isn't brilliant, the walls not soundproofed. The pipes are decades old.

And the clincher -- bidding for it starts at US$1 million. Am I dreaming?? For a piece of junk? An apartment in this building was $559,000 when I moved in 4 years ago, it has doubled since then.

It's good equity, said my roommate, and San Francisco's property prices may or may not go down. Waiting for the bubble to burst shouldn't be a reason to not buy an apartment, she said. San Francisco's still cheap compared to Palo Alto, where every inch of earth is worth gold.

I sigh and catch a glimpse of the real estate agent. She's radiant, knowing a good payday's on tap.