Let’s get real: Craigslist is the best way to find an apartment in the Bay Area. Replete with loads of listings and images, it’s where most people score a home in the city. But it’s not the only place to look. If you’re looking for a pad in San Francisco, give these alternative outlets a shot. While they can’t promise you a sweet deal on a living space—the median rent in San Francisco hovers around the $3,700 mark for a one-bedroom apartment—they can offer you a slew of apartments to peruse.
Besides, no one should have to sleep in a bunkbed for $1,200 per month.
This site, which is one of our favorite alternatives, has some exclusive features. It lets you draw your own neighborhood rather than sticking to the boundaries of a neighborhood that has been defined for you. (Ideal for large neighborhoods like SoMa and the Richmond.) There are property videos, 3-D tours, and more than 1,600 rentals currently available in San Francisco. There's also an option to plan your commute for each listing.
Zumper has been making a big effort in the San Francisco market with an outdoor advertising campaign. The interface is easy to use, and you can check availability of apartments and apply to most through the site itself. It also vets all of its listings, meaning that you won't get scammed. Like many other Craigslist competitors, Zumper can suffer from low inventory, and many of its listings are from the city's bigger, newer buildings.
Apartment List starts the rental search process with an interactive questionnaire that asks you about your ideal apartment, from size and price to pets and amenities. It even double-checks your income to make sure you are qualified for the price range you are looking at. Apartment List will email you new matches to make sure that you see all of the latest apartments that come on the market, but the downside is that you're not allowed to see your matches until you pony up your contact details.
Nextdoor
It will only be useful if you want to move within your own neighborhood, but this local posting board often has ads from people looking for roommates. You can only sign up for the neighborhood that you currently live in, so it works as a great resource if you need to move but want to stay in the same area. Postings are irregular and there's no search tool, but you just might come across something here that doesn't show up anywhere else.
This site is based around a map search tool. It pulls data from several other sources, including Craigslist and Airbnb, to show listings. You can add filters to narrow down data both by normal search criteria like size and price and also what sites you want to pull from. There's also the option to add commute time. There are a lot of listings, but the interface isn't quite as slick as those on other sites.
Hotpads started out as a rental website but was acquired by Zillow last year and now shows properties available both to rent and buy. You can see how many people have recently looked at the listing and how often the listing's owner has been contacted lately, along with lots of stats about the neighborhood. It's easy to send the landlord a message through the site, but unfortunately many of the listings are weeks old.
The slogan of this roommate-finding website is "We take out the trash for you," meaning that humans review all roommate profiles to weed out the "scam, spam, or scum red flags." The site uses IP addresses to determine a potential roommate's exact location and has "roommate behavior ratings" that delete anyone who sounds "insincere, completely off base, or completely unwell."
This site allows people to look both for roommates and for entire places, something that many of the Craigslist competitors are missing. You can connect with other site members using social networks like Facebook to verify that people are who they say they are. Roomster has been around since 2003 and operates in 192 countries but still doesn't seem to have dethroned Craigslist as the place to go to look for a new roommate.
Facebook’s MarketPlace now comes with housing listings, including rentals. While the offerings are not as bountiful as the other sites listed above, it might have a home or two that’s not found anywhere else.
FAQs
One of the main reasons apartment hunting can be so difficult especially for beginners is because of the sheer number of options available. There are countless apartment complexes, rental websites, and property managers all vying for your attention.
How do I hunt for my first apartment? ›
As a first-time apartment renter, you'll need to:
- Determine your budget.
- Choose your neighborhood.
- Decide if you need a roommate.
- Consider the parking situation.
- Think about amenities.
- Consider which floor you want to live on.
- Know the best time to look for an apartment.
- Give yourself time to search.
Not because there aren't apartments available, but because Los Angeles is a hot rental market. This means desirable apartments don't last long. We recommend exploring some of the neighborhoods you're interested in on foot.
How to find a rental in SF? ›
What are the Best Websites to Find an Apartment for Rent in San Francisco?
- Facebook housing groups.
- Craigslist.
- Zillow.
- Padmapper.
- ApartmentList.
5 Things You Should Never Say When Renting an Apartment
- 'I hate my current landlord' Every potential landlord is going to ask why you're moving. ...
- 'Let me ask you one more question' ...
- 'I can't wait to get a puppy' ...
- 'My partner works right up the street' ...
- 'I move all the time'
Apartments have several advantages over single family homes. One advantage is the smaller space makes it easier to clean. If there's only one bathroom and less than 1000 square feet of floor space, cleaning takes less time than it would in a bigger house. Some people think the smaller space makes it feel cozy.
What is the 30% rule? ›
A popular standard for budgeting rent is to follow the 30% rule, where you spend a maximum of 30% of your monthly income before taxes (your gross income) on your rent. This has been a rule of thumb since 1981, when the government found that people who spent over 30% of their income on housing were "cost-burdened."
What are important things to look for in an apartment? ›
Check for any signs of damage, mold, pests, or water leakage and ensure that all appliances are in working order and that the heating and cooling systems are functional. When looking at apartments for rent, ask the landlord about their maintenance policy.
What is flat hunting? ›
(ˈflætˌhʌntɪŋ ) noun. the activity of looking for a flat in which to live. Sara decided she'd done enough flat-hunting for one afternoon. They had no choice but to wait for the weekend to go flat-hunting.
Why do so many LA apartments come without fridges? ›
“California law qualifies or classifies refrigerators as “amenities,” [which are] not required under habitability standards,” Dillon says. He adds, “When I talked to longtime landlords and property managers, what they said is, 'Look, if we don't have to do this, then we're not going to do it. It's an extra expense.
Los Angeles Rent Report: June 2024. Welcome to the Apartment List June 2024 Rent Report for Los Angeles, CA. Currently, the overall median rent in the city stands at $2,093, roughly the same as last month. Prices remain down 3.1% year-over-year.
Where is California's hardest spot to find an apartment? ›
Orange County named the hardest place to find an apartment in California. A new report shows that moving to Orange County is becoming nearly impossible. "It took three years of searching to find an apartment," renter Rachel O'Connell said.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in SF? ›
This was especially the case in the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas, which had some of the highest cost differentials: In San Francisco, their data showed you'll pay nearly 96% more to own versus rent.
Are rents dropping in SF? ›
According to a recent report by Apartment List, as of August 2023, San Francisco's rents have decreased by over 4% compared to the previous year, and the entire Bay Area has experienced a dip in prices.
How much do you pay in rent in SF? ›
As of June 2024, the average rent in San Francisco, CA is $2,804 per month. This is 85% higher than the national average rent price of $1,517/month, making San Francisco one of the most expensive cities in the US.
What are the hardest months to find an apartment? ›
When Is the Worst Time to Rent an Apartment? The worst time to rent an apartment is generally during the summer months—June, July and August—when demand for units is at its highest.
Why is it so hard to get into an apartment? ›
It's not in your head. Due to the buyer's market brought to us by COVID-19, unemployment, and the oil bust, tenants are being more selective on properties, looking for cheaper places to live, moving out of the state/country, and looking for spaces to accommodate remote schools/jobs.
Are good tenants hard to find? ›
Whether you just purchased your first property or your fifteenth, finding good tenants can be hard. You need to fill your properties– and keep them filled– if you want those properties to be successful. But you can't let just anyone move. You need to know that you can count on them to fulfill certain responsibilities.
Is getting an apartment wasting money? ›
If you're paying off debt or expect to move for a job, it's smarter to rent because renting gives you more flexibility. You may have heard the myth that renting is a waste of money. That's not true. Housing is an essential expense.
