Yes you can rent the place BUT ..

[AsahinaKimi]

Your income has to be three times the rent.. WTH? Looking for an apartment is stressful enough. There are people who are trying to scam you..they place an advertisement on craigslist for a rental unit, and show you lots of pretty photographs of a really nice place... A place that does not exist at all.. all they want you to do is buy their credit report! Then when you do finally find a legitimate place, you have to QUALIFY to get it... Which means you need proof of income, a recommendation from your previous landlord (If you have a slumlord who won't approve of you moving out you are up the creek.)a decent credit report, a promise to sign a five year lease, and access to your entire life's history, your family's history and the history of all your friends!!!! meh!!!

Looking for a new apartment is a pain in the butt, I just hate this!

[Capn Sunshine]

1. Say away from the corporate guys

No one signs a five year lease unless they are renting a storefront.

Drive around areas you like and look for for rent signs in front. Or Craigslist , which is about half and half. I advertise in Craigslist, and I'm just a small REIT.
Where are you looking?

[AsahinaKimi]

2. San Francisco

I don't have a car. I have to rely on Craigslist.. the San Francisco Chronicle has cruddy listings.. The problem with Craigslist is you have to email the ad's listing, and I am not all that sure they are checking, because I am getting little in response.

One that did respond asked me why I wanted to leave my present place. I told her the conditions here was bad.. You would think I slapped all landlords in the face, she said "Well then you don't want my place, good luck finding something!"

[dysfunctional press]

3. take public transportation to an area you're interested in and walk some residential streets...

whenever we were renting out the upper unit in our chicago two-flat, the only 'advertising' we did was a sign out front.

[Capn Sunshine]

6. Look up BART

BART Stations, look for the one closest to your job and roll from there!

[Iggo]

13. Oh, no no no.

"Closer to work and family" is the answer we were looking for. "Closer to work and family."

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

4. Here's a way you may not have thought of.

If you have friends that rent and you like where they live, ask for the owner/prop manager contact info.
If your friends are good tenants and they talk you up, sometimes that greases the skids and makes it easier to get around all the crap.
Most of the owners/managers are scared to death of getting a tenant from hell so they make it hard to get in.
Just a thought. Good Luck! :)

[Capn Sunshine]

5. Excellent suggestion

So's the BART one. I hear Benecia is a cool town. Oh, try the Ferries. Pier 41. They lead to all sorts of cool Bay Area towns. Hayward is a nice small town, right up the BART..

[david13]

10. Hayward. No way, if she goes to east bay, she must live in

Berkeley.
dc

[SoCalDem]

17. AND.. tell everyone you know, that you are looking for a place

perhaps someone has a friend/family member who might be interested in sharing space..or they may know someone who has rentals.

around here, a LOT of rentals never get advertised, because the landlord is afraid of being sued if they turn someone down, so they rent by word of mouth or by recommendation only.

[AsahinaKimi]

7. I can not leave the city

I have ties here, and so going to the East Bay or South Bay is not possible. As for friends, they own their own homes. That must be nice.

[Capn Sunshine]

8. You don't "Leave" , you come back very day! On the BART!

Day or night! It's why SF didn't turn into NYC

[AsahinaKimi]

9. I know all about Bart

I grew up in San Francisco. I watched them tear up Market Street to put Bart and MUNI in. As I said, I have ties here in the city, which I can not leave. I will not say more about that, other then I need to be HERE in the City, 24-7. Its just that I am tired of being in an In-law unit where you have to "SHARE" your electric, garbage, and water bill will some idiot whose only goal is to scam me out of my hard earned money, so they can have a few extra beers a week. I am tired of the cigarette and pot smoke from wafting into my apartment from the neighbors. Tired of the mice and bugs that seem to find their way into my apartment thats just off of the garage. I need to find a decent place to live where what qualifies to move in is fair both for the tenant and the landlord.

Thank you all for your replies and help...

[david13]

11. Staying in a bad place is a pain. Moving is a pain. Finding the

right place to move to is a pain.
I know. I have moved many times.
I remember many many years ago when Market Street was tore up and they were building the bart.
And the Beatles had released a new lp which was for sale, at the Emporium?
That Market Street? That Emporium? That was a long time ago. How can you remember that?
dc

[Capn Sunshine]

12. I think that was the trolley

They tore up the streets to re-do the trolley back when there were still records

[david13]

15. No, it was the bart. The construction years were 1962 to 1972. So

I remember the street being torn up with deep holes. Same thing I remember later in Los Angeles at Hill and Temple, a huge hole where the street was.
Kimi
Good luck on your move.
dc

[suninvited]

14. the guidelines used to be

that your rent should be no more than a quarter of your income. Has that changed to a third now?

I got a lot of those fake ads renting non existent places too in order to get your to sign up for their credit report. And the ones renting non existent places but the owner was out of town, please wire your deposit to blah blah blah. The joys of Craigslist. But, I did find the place that I ended up moving to on Craigslist, you just have to learn to spot the fake from the real. The easiest way to spot the real ads is they normally include a phone number. The fakes never do.

I didnt have a job when I moved (I was moving to another state to be closer to family), but my excellent credit and good references seemed to be enough for my new landlords. I found a one year lease, but have been here six months and am pretty sure that I will remain here when my lease is up. A five year lease sounds excessive. I would avoid those. You dont know what you will be doing in five years, who does?

Good luck!

[AsahinaKimi]

16. I am going to go look at a place today

The guy called me. I scouted it on Google maps (I used street view) and the guys name is Simon. (SIMON SEZ: YOU WILL LIKE THIS PLACE!!) The photos had nice wood floors, a bathtub (I hate the shower only units) and some well Lighted windows for my cat to look out of. I hope this place doesn't have all the ridicules red tape .. I even get to view it after 5:30 when the guy gets off work. This is not an inlaw unit, its a real apartment! I will pay for my own electricity, garbage and water most likely.



**note, My friend called me and told me I could always move to LA, .. Santa Monica. She has a place there we could share, but she is always complaining about the fires down there, the air quality, plus I don't own a car. I would need one to live in Los Angeles. Meh.. I hope to stay in San Francisco.