So you’re off to San Francisco,but like many who move to the Bay Area from another city,you're stuck trying to find a sublet or temporary housing on short noticeand having a tough time.Should you sign a lease from afar,or find a place to stay while you house hunt?Where do you start?
To help you with the search for a short-term–one month to three month–stay,we talked to a few people who have made the long distance move to San Francisco themselvesand to a few experts in the short-term rental business.
Here's what the locals had to say:
The state of the sublet market in San Francisco
In the past few years,the short-term rental market in San Francisco has been booming with more and more peoplearriving to work in Silicon Valley or its urban version,the city’s SoMa neighborhood.Malana Moberg,a marketing and management consultant and San Francisco native who we spoke with,sublets her apartment whenever she goes off to travel to Africa,Europe or South America.According to her,"someone is always looking for temporary housing here."
The most popular San Francisco neighborhoods for subletters include:- Nob HIll- Russian Hill- North Beach- Pacific Heights- SoMa- Cow Hollow- Marina
Each of these areas are near the financial district or just a short bus ride away.Anyone moving with a family and on a budget should consider going a bit further west,to Richmond or Sunset.The commute is a little longer but the price tag won’t be as steep.
When you’re searching for a place while out of town
Start with word-of-mouth and social media, says Moberg.Tell everyone you know what you’re looking forand someone may come up with the name of a friend or colleague who has a place available.Especially in Silicon Valley,finding a sublet is easiest if you know people.
But if you don't,she suggests starting your search with the old standbys,
The popularity of Craigslist has spawned a number of agenciesthat may take listings from the free website and charge for the referral.Watch out for that.
Before the Internet,anyone looking for short-term housingwould start with the classifieds in the local newspaper.Thankfully, today we have the
It’s always tricky trying to find a short-term living spaceif you are hundreds or thousands of miles away from the city you are moving to.
Corporate housing and furnished apartments
These apartments are particularly attractivefor short-term stays since they are fully furnishedand are often set-up specifically for people who are re-locating.Three large corporate rental companies with properties all over the U.S(including San Francisco)are
A number of locally-based companies offer fully-furnished apartments as well.Jeanne Zimmerman of McGuire Real Estate,one of these local companies,explains that the demand for short-term rentals in San Francisco soared about 7 years ago. "That’s when we built up our own department that specializes in these kinds of rentals." One of the offerings on her website,
Two other locally-based sources for short-term furnished apartments are
Finding a sublet in the San Francisco Bay Area
The most obvious choice would be
Two interesting alternatives include
Of the two, sabbaticalhomes.com has the most options in San Francisco.The company was founded in 2000 by Nadege Conger,the wife of a professor,who is still running the operation with the help of a multi-national team.San Francisco is a popular destination for the website for sublets,house-sitting opportunities and apartment shares.One recent listing is a $3800 per month two-bedroom,1200 square foot flat on the second floor of a 1910 Edwardian style homelocated between the Mission and Castro neighborhoods.
Another local source is
Perhaps you need to find a roommate?
Four nation-wide websites will match you up with a roommate in San Francisco:-
...all are ready to help with your search.
…or just a place to stay while you house hunt
Vacation rentals are very much the same as sublets.Most are available by the night,the week,the month or longer.The websites