Apartment searches may cause stress and anxiety, especially when you’re looking in a large and expensive city like San Francisco. No matter how tight the rental market is, nevertheless, it is possible to find the perfect place by yourself or with just a small bit of free help.
Types
There are lots of routes you can take while seeking an apartment. You can do all the work yourself. You can do some of this job yourself. Or you can let somebody else do all the work for you. The latter scenario typically requires hiring a apartment finding service. This may be expensive, but if you lack time or know-how, local specialists can line up areas for you to see that match the criteria you give them. Other services charge you for access to your database of apartment listings, but you need to care for the legwork on your own. You can certainly do all the above for free. Find listings. Establish appointments. Meet landlords. The ball is in your court.
The Online
Most flat hunts start online. In some cities, particularly San Francisco, Craigslist is the significant player. You can search listings on Craigslist by flat size, price as well as in San Francisco and Manhattan, by area. If your city’s Craiglist website doesn’t have a drop-down menu for areas, you can search by keywords. Other websites, for example Rent.com and Apartments.com, can round out a Craigslist-focused search; however, you might find a fair bit of repetition between websites. Another rich online source for rental listings is your paper’s website. SFGate.com, the website of this San Francisco Chronicle, offers free apartment listings, using a search by neighborhood and unit type.
Factors
If you hate computers or just need to diversify the practice of finding an apartment, pound the sidewalk. The Rent.com site suggests acting”like a local, not a tourist.” If you’re moving to a new city or contemplating new areas in your present one, forget the sightseeing and traverse a possible neighborhood as you would in the event that you were residing there. If you’re looking in San Francisco’s North Beach, for example, climbing up to Coit Tower might be fun, but a much better use of your time might be scoping out nearby grocery stores, post offices and other amenities.
Word of Mouth
In case you have friends in the region you would love to live, inquire to keep their ears and eyes open. Just like walking around might make you stumble to a”For Rent” sign that never makes it to sites like Craigslist, a buddy might know of an opening before word hits the road. Much like looking for a new job, put out feelers ahead of time. If your current location is possessed by an individual landlord or a large company that owns tens of thousands of possessions, inquire whether they have any openings apart from the one you’re going to create.
Features
Whether you web browse, stroll around, use word of mouth or use a combination of all three things, keep a checklist with you of what you need and want in a rental. Rent.com suggests utilizing your current location for a point of comparison. Assess what you have against what you are and are unwilling to give up when you locate your new flat. For example, if you’re moving from Phoenix to San Francisco, then you can most likely scratch air conditioning off of your listing. Some amount of organization regarding preferences saves time as you search out new refuge.
