housing in the SF bay area!
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- 19 Responses
- sarahfailin
Hey guys-- I'm looking for a place to live in the bay area for August 1, and it's starting to get down to the wire. My max rent I can reasonably afford is $1000/mo. I'd prefer Berekely/Oakland area, and I have a cat. Anyone know of a place?
...of course I'm all over craigslist. The cat part is what makes it hard.
- epic_rim0
max $1k is going to be tuff for your own place, you'll certainly need to focus on the east bay. You might consider a room in a house with others. If you're curious about neighborhoods and relative safety, I can help.
- yeah I'm totally down for roommates. I'm 29. no kids or anything like thatsarahfailin
- you should be able to do better than $1k/month at this agemonospaced
- Lulz @ mono's life advice.nb
- fucking mono being mono. such a ridiculous comment.lvl_13
- it's not a ridiculous commentmonospaced
- $1k max is like a $50K salary, that's entry level 24 year old salarymonospaced
- moldero0
You can get a room for $1000/mo, that's about it, that's what i used to rent out my rooms for in SF.
- prices have gone up so much in the last few yearsmonospaced
- dasohr0
good luck! probably not going to find what you are looking for. Will you be working in the city?
- I work from home! So that makes me more flexible.sarahfailin
- vahicle or commute. I would suggest you look around the area north of berkley, richmond, vallejo, etc. can be a little ghetto but more affordable
dasohr - also might want to look into places north of the GG bridge, larkspur, marin, etc...
dasohr
- lvl_130
you will definitely be sharing a place at $1k a month. Are you in the area right now? the one thing i would suggest is that you are physically here when looking for a place (whether it be renting a place/room on airbnb for a month, or stay with someone you may know for a month). it's really hard to try and lock down a place from out of state.
also, i've mentioned this several times when this question came up before: make sure you have all your rental paperwork in order prior to looking at a place:
previous rent referral
paystub/current place of employment or job offer letter
credit score
SF rental application filled out and copied (you can download off of the ca.gov sitegood luck. i've got a couple friends that live in the east bay/oakland so I can ask them questions about areas if you want me to (i'm in SF and rarely travel across the bay :)
- Awesome. Thanks for the tips. I am in the Sunset District now, moving to the cheaper E. Bay.sarahfailin
- oh nice. you shouldn't have a problem then. good luck!lvl_13
- monospaced0
I just did a quick craigslist search for rooms available in the Richmond and Sunset districts and there seem to be plenty of decent rooms at or around $1000/month. The reason I picked these neighborhoods is because they are still in the actual city, but in areas that are known to be cheaper. I lived in the outer Richmond for many years, and while it's further from downtown, it's close the park and the ocean. Taking a bus is not a big deal, I did it for years.
- cannonball19780
Good freaking luck with that. $1000 with a cat. Jeesh.
- I dunno, it's only a problem if you're trying to move into a trendy city 'hoodmonospaced
- pinkfloyd0
Having pets limits your search in rooms or apartments by 75% at least
- freedom0
$1000 can get you a closet in a nice area or a normal room in a not-as-nice area. for a month.
If you work from home, have you thought about another city? I hear Kansas City is cheap.
- epic_rim0
You might really consider $2500 a month. I know that sounds crazy but you'll pay in other ways by really shorting yourself. Bay Area is an expensive place to live from the outside but its all relative once you start making a relative living wage here.
On another note, I've seen a few bidding wars for rentals lately. crazy times.
- colin_s0
i lived in the tenderloin with a cat for a few years for $895, but this was 2008 - 2012. if i remember correctly, after leaving my apartment (small studio above a drug corner) was listed at $1395. good luck.
- cannonball19780
If you tack on another $1200 or so you could probably rent my place in Hayes Valley. It's a freestanding carriage house and allows pets. I'm moving out.
- sarahfailin0
Haha. Nice. Thanks for the replies guys. I've been living in the Sunset District for about 3 months now, and I'm looking for a more affordable place. I'm basically paying $1000/mo right now. I'll come clean that I don't work in graphic design but am instead a humble nonprofit worker! I am of course looking for roommates. I'll be pouring over Craigslist looking for other po' folk like me. If anyone has a personal connection to something I can afford, I'd love to hear about it. Grazie!
- ohhhhhsnap0
good luck with that. :/
- ohhhhhsnap0
Sent that prematurely, ^ and my sarcasm comes from going through the same thing from time to time. It's nice living solo when I have good income.
I'm actually in the same "struggle" as you, do you design for the non-profit world? Is it raise/bonus time?... annual review?
I know that my communities (queer, lgbtqi, queer artists of color) have groups on Google and FB where people are constantly seeking housing in various areas and states). May want to see what your communities are putting out there as a resource.
There's always craigslist as a back up.Seriously, best of luck.
- No I'm a grants manager, but I've done lots of different projects. I'm on the SFChalkboard. Thanks :)sarahfailin
- sublocked0
LMAO.... $1k will get you a spot in EAST OAKLAND maybe? Other than that, trying finding a room to rent.
You won't find a place for $1k/mo by yourself near SF unless it's hood as fuck.
- ^ mentioned several times.lvl_13
- ps. we need to get that fucking beer. SF meetup post scheduled here? let's do it.lvl_13
- Man, motherfuck gentrification.ohhhhhsnap
- reanimate0
Dat gentrification