I am currently Apartment hunting, and dismayed to find a frustrating phenomenon: Many of the places (here in the Bay Area, at least) that are a decent commute to my work are either too expensive ($1800 for a 1 bedroom :eek: ) or they are reasonably priced but have ‘maximum’ income limits and long waiting lists. So I’m either too poor or too rich to afford places. I found some places that are closer to my price range (ie 1200 or less) but they require you earn 3x a months rent in monthly gross income, which I haven’t quite accomplished. I can get someone to cosign, but I haven’t been able to do that either because everyone I’ve talked to balked since apparently cosigning is a negative mark on someone’s credit record if they are trying to get a loan themselves.
I’m rather frustrated. I have a stable job and will be making progressively more money. However, I’m tired of sharing my living space with other people- I want to be able to live by myself and have a decent commute when gas prices inevitably go back up. Because of my job (I ride mass transit for free), I’ve been looking for places with good access to the local Light Rail system, but those are all the places that are either way too expensive or I make too much money. Is there any third option?
We’ve had good luck by looking at owner-managed buildings, or buildings with a small number of units. It really helps if you can make your case directly to a person who can hand over the keys right then if he or she wants to. We came to the Bay Area as grad students with no rental history and little in the way of employment history, and we had a dreadful time trying to find someplace in/around Berkeley. Either the waiting list was astronomical or the place was a real dump. It was even more of a struggle because we had to drive up from San Diego every time we wanted to go hunting.
Finally, we were driving around the Lake Merritt area listlessly, ready to give up for the weekend, when my husband pointed to a handsome older building and said, “Why can’t we find somplace like that?” When we turned the corner, lo and behold, there was a For Rent sign and a phone number. (It hadn’t been advertised in the paper.) The owner came right over when we called and signed us up on the spot. She’d owned the building for decades and we just looked like the type of tenants she wanted. We lived there for 10 years.
We’ve had similar experiences since then. It helps to be married or otherwise stable-seeming. A lot of owners/managers are sick of dealing with volatile roommate situations. It also helps to be able to offer a couple of months in advance, in addition to the security deposit.
Have you gone to Craigslist? People who are looking to get out of their leases will frequently posts ads. Because they’re just looking for someone to finish out their lease, you usually don’t have to pay all the start-up costs that you normally would (although I imagine you eventually would if you decided to stay in the place after the lease was up). Also, the ads often contain pics. That makes shopping easier.
I don’t know if they’d have an overabundance of this in your area, but back when I was young and single, my living quarters choices usually ran to garage apartments. They were about 3/4 cheaper (this has been since the late 80s / early 90s, so now you’re probably looking at more like only 1/4 [hopefully]), had the freedom of you being the only one in the unit and typically had landlords that were willing to work with young, broke people.
I lived this way in two different places for a total of 5 years. Also, a lot of times you can find information on these just by driving around and asking or checking with a local realtor. Needless to say, I loved it and highly recommend it. It allowed me to save a lot of money at the time.
Ask if they really require 3x rent in income per month. My current 1bdrm is $1300 a month and I only make 3x that if I pick a month with 3 pay periods. But after my credit check, the landlord said it was no problem.
My stepfather co-owns (with his daughter) a couple of older buildings overlooking Lake Merritt. One was built as a seminary or monastery for the Cathedral which is below. They very rarely have openings, since the tenants tend to stay for years. I know that when they have a vacancy they list on Craigslist. If you want to e-mail me, he said he might be able to give you a few areas you can try or some pointers.
I’ll check to see if there’s a vacancy where I live. My complex is right between 2 light rail stations on the edge of Willow Glen. The rent is below market rate and managed by one of the residents.
I turned down two jobs in San Francisco in 2006 'cause I couldn’t afford rent.
The problems were like you said “First, last and security” upfront. Then every place but two wanted “key money.” I didn’t even know what that was and I lived in Manhattan. Key money is a “cash” deposit for your key due annually that is non-refundable. It was between $2,000 and $5,000 for the “key money.”
I had looked at places for $1,200/month for a studio WITH a shared bathroom for two other studios.
Considering I live in Chicago for $500/month in a studio, with key money and three months rent in advance, I’d have to make $20K a year AFTER TAXES more than in Chicago.
It’s not worth it. I love San Franc to visit, but it’s no place to live unless you rake in the bucks