Usually on this blog, we write about how to buy or build a compound for your friends.

This post is about selling one.

I'm Phil, founder of Live Near Friends. After eight years, I'm selling Radish — the seven-home compound in Oakland that inspired me to start this company.

The property includes seven private homes (ranging from 1–4 bedrooms), all oriented around generous shared spaces: three yards, an industrial-scale hosting kitchen, a cedar hot tub and sauna, a firepit, and a guest RV. It’s designed to offer privacy when you want it, and connection when you don’t.

It's been the setting for some of the biggest moments in our friends' lives: six weddings, nine births, and thousands of dinners.

We’re now looking for the next owner (or group) who wants to carry that forward — whether that’s a group of friends, extended family, or organization that values proximity to people.

Offers are due June 15th.

A seven-home compound is a lot to take on, and I know it can look daunting from the outside. So a few words of encouragement.

When we bought Radish eight years ago, we didn't know who would end up living here or how any of it would work. We figured the hardest part would be finding people. It wasn't — there are far more people looking for this kind of life than we realized. The lifestyle sells itself once it exists. Your job is to create the container.

What's it like to sell a place like Radish?

A beyond-the-scenes update

First, there's a hunger for this.

We've had close to 500 people tour the property. Most are "tourists" ... not serious buyers but people who want to get inspired for a future project of their own. You can tell the serious buyers by the ones that ask about the HVAC system. The "just-curious" crowd tends to want to know about food systems and conflict resolution.

What’s been fun

Getting to show people our lifestyle: For years we've tried to explain what Radish feels like — and words always fall short. Tours have been different. People walk through the gate, see kids running between houses while parents drink coffee on someone else's porch, and just get it in 30 seconds. We should have been doing this all along.

Media coverage: Fox News came over to interview us for a TV segment, and the SF Standard did a piece. A real estate influencer created a viral post that got millions of views. All in all, an already-very-public home got a lot more public. Every week I have someone tell me “have you heard about this place in Oakland?” Friends moms all seem to know about it (dads still are clueless).

Glow-ups: We used the sale as a forcing function to finally do real photoshoots, videoshoots, and resident interviews. The regret: we should have been doing this every year. Tip for any community: hire a photographer for a day-in-the-life. You'll cherish it forever — don't wait until you're selling.

What’s been awkward

Explaining why we are leaving (”okay where’s the drama??!!?”): People assume something must have gone wrong because we’re selling. They treat it as a datapoint to confirm whatever they already believed about living near friends — that it’s unsustainable, that people burn out, that the dream always sours. In reality, it’s been a huge success and every single person is continuing in one of the three new post-Radish communities that are forming.

Pricing: There are no comps. No Zestimate. No existing market for “custom-built friend compound.” We landed on a price range of $4-6m (~$600k–$850k per home), which is uncomfortably wide — but honestly, we don’t know if it’ll close closer to $4m or $6m.

Looky-loos: It’s surprisingly hard to tell a serious buyer from someone who just wants to see the place they read about online. We’ve revised our intake process several times to filter out the tourists without scaring off the real ones. Here’s our latest intake form, which more explicitly asks people about their financial means. We regret not asking people more explicitly earlier in the process.

Saying goodbye while still living here: We’re hosting tours in the same kitchens where we still cook dinner together every week. It’s a weird liminal space — half real estate transaction, half slow-motion farewell. Some days it feels like throwing your own wake.

So who’s going to buy it???

We don’t know! Are we going to have 100 bids? 0 bids? We have no idea at this point.

Our best guesses for the eventual buyer:

A “compound for my people” buyer: 1-2 wealthy households (perhaps tech jackpot winners) buying the whole thing to rent to their inner circle. Most communities don't start with a fully-formed group — they start with one or two households brave (or rich) enough to plant the flag and move friends or family in over time.

An existing friend group: 5-7 households who’ve been dreaming about this for years and want to skip ahead 3-4 years of searching, designing, and building. Probably the most natural fit. One archetype we’ve seen is existing coliving communities seeing the need to upgrade space for the future (usually for kids…).

A multi-generational family: Grandparents, adult kids, cousins, all on one parcel. We’ve had a few come through tours.

A mission-driven operator: A nonprofit, foundation, or coliving company that wants a turnkey community without spending years stitching one together.

If you read this and thought “wait, that’s me” — start here or email hello@buyradish.com. Offers are due June 15th.