Renting an apartment in San Francisco can be a lot of work and time consuming. But it will also be fun. If the city is new to you, going to the apartment viewings will be a great way to get to know neighborhoods, street names, restaurants and everything else. You name it!
Where to live?
San Francisco is made up of small neighborhoods and the first thing you need to do when looking for to rent an apartment is to narrow down the neighborhoods you want to live in. I wrote a whole blog post about this, but here is the short summary:
Visit them as much as you can to get different perspectives, and know what is the most important thing to you. Do you want to be close to work or close to a neighborhood with restaurants? Would you want to be on top of a hill and have nice view or would you want to be close to the shops and gyms? Do you want your place to be quiet or lively? For me the important things were to be in a safe neighborhood and have cafes, restaurants and shops near me. When you know your answers, start to narrow down the neighborhoods.
My favorite areas to look were Cow Hollow, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, North Beach and Hayes Valley. I also saw apartments in Cole Valley and Nopa. I still felt like Cow Hollow was the area for me and when I saw my current apartment I knew this will be it. It had the San Francisco vibe that I wanted from my home here – wooden floors, big bay windows and four closets of which two are walk-ins (hallelujah!). I find it so luxurious to have a lot of closet space – in Helsinki closets are rare.
How to find an apartment in San Francisco?
I would recommend to download an app called Zillow. Make a profile that alerts you when something with your size and price range comes up. You want to be one of the first ones to send a message and book a viewing. It took me 2.5 months to find a place. Once, when I was on my way to see an apartment it was already gone. I have lived in Milan, London and Melbourne that are busy cities but I still find San Francisco rental market the most competitive.
Use Craigslist but be careful. I ran into many fraud posts such as “I have promised to a couple who are spending their honeymoon that I won’t disturb them, so just pay two-month deposit and when they leave, you can see the place. If you don’t want it you get your money back”. Just remember, never send money to anyone without seeing the place and signing a contract first!!!
Facebook group San Francisco Housing, Rooms, Apartments, Sublets is a good place to check out if you are looking to rent a room.
Things to know when renting an apartment in San Francisco:
- Rent prices are extremely high. Living in the areas listed above be ready to pay $2400-$3900 per month for a studio and one bedroom apartment. Living in a room costs $1000-$2400 depending on the area.
- There are many rentals where pets are allowed. Craigslist is the best place to look for a pet friendly apartment.
- Some agencies require the renter to see the apartment in person before renting it out.
- Finding a reasonable priced fully furnished apartment for a year is basically impossible, unless renting a room.
- Having a dishwasher or laundry machine in an old apartment is a rare gem.
- Without credit score you need your bank statements from the last three months.
- Some of the renting agencies require 2.5 months’ rent as a deposit
- You might need to write a check in your name. This acquires a local bank account or cashiers checks. Those can be found from smaller banks if you go in and ask.
