Vacancy rates tend to be quite low in San Francisco and the majority of the time there are about 40 to 50 people vying for the same place; your goal is to set yourself apart. Often times, finding a place to rent in San Francisco can be quite challenging.
Locating the perfect rental unit with the right price and location can typically be a difficult process. Although finding the right rental apartment or home is a time-consuming process, if you know how to properly search, you can eliminate any stress and extra energy spent.
Whether you’re new to San Francisco, relocating for work or a long-term resident of the beautiful “City by the Bay,” here is a couple “how-to’s” to give you the one up on everyone else:
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Create a Checklist
Before getting started, it’s important to figure out what you’re looking for in terms of location, price and size to help expedite the process quickly.
San Francisco provides nearly 30 different districts to choose from and all offer a different style and atmosphere. So, when trying to locate the right rental unit, you need to know what kind of place you are looking for first.
Additionally, you want to know what your cons are. For instance, if you find a rental you like, are you going to be okay with it if it’s not close to your school or job? You want to be sure to document all of these cons beforehand, in order to help you when making a decision to lease an apartment in San Francisco.
Leasing a space in San Francisco should never be something to be rushed into. After all, you’re essentially signing away yourself for a full year. If you didn’t take the time to prepare, you could end up being legally tied to a home you don’t care for.
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Check Websites
With so many people looking to rent and not enough homes on the market, you need to be on your A-game. This means checking Websites like Craigslist, PadMapper and HotPads on a constant basis. When you do check these sites, make sure that any time you come across a link you like you notice who the leasing agent is.
Almost nine out of 10 times they’re either working for a San Francisco property management company or rental agency. From there, you can go to their company Website where you’ll find additional listings that may become available two weeks or one month down the line.
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Make Phone Calls
Lastly, a good thing to do when finding a place to rent is personally making phone calls to leasing agents or landlords; make your presence known. A lot of the time, if you blindly send out an email then you won’t get a response back because of the high interest in the unit. This will often lead to you getting lost in the shuffle and that can take you out of the running.
If you’re new to San Francisco and not familiar with the areas, don’t hesitate to contact your local property management company. Here at Property Management Systems we’ll not only do the searching for you, but we’ll be more than happy to go out there with you and help lock that desired place in.
