SF rental market is insane (San Francisco, Oakland: real estate, apartment, leasing)

[checkup]

-see posting on craigslist for an apartment that opens up on Aug 1; respond within 10 minutes of posting
-go visit 2 days later; apparently I'm the 6th person he saw
-put in application
-he calls me 4 hours later to say that the building owners put me 3rd on the waitlist and they went with someone else

wtf? Not sure what their criteria is--I'm a professional making 200k+/year. More to the point, this rental market in SF is obscene

EDIT: I should also add that I once responded to a posting 30 minutes after it was posted. I get a response 1 hour later telling me that the unit has been taken. WTF

[jupiler]

Originally Posted by checkup

respond within 10 minutes of posting

Good.

-go visit 2 days later;

Bad.

apparently I'm the 6th person he saw

I was expecting you to be the 60th person he saw

From everything I've heard here, yeah, it's pretty crazy.

[ccm123]

Welcome to the SF Bay Area.

Seriously, keep trying, you will find one.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by checkup

-see posting on craigslist for an apartment that opens up on Aug 1; respond within 10 minutes of posting
-go visit 2 days later; apparently I'm the 6th person he saw
-put in application
-he calls me 4 hours later to say that the building owners put me 3rd on the waitlist and they went with someone else

wtf? Not sure what their criteria is--I'm a professional making 200k+/year. More to the point, this rental market in SF is obscene

EDIT: I should also add that I once responded to a posting 30 minutes after it was posted. I get a response 1 hour later telling me that the unit has been taken. WTF

Having recently gone through the apartment hunt myself, the only thing surprising in your post was that some of the landlords/brokers actually called you back.

Yes, the rental market is absolutely crazy. I've never seen anything like this before (it certainly wasn't this bad when renting in SF a few years ago -- at the time still considered a hot rental market -- and when renting recently in Manhattan it was a piece of cake compared to this.). I am assuming it's one of the toughest markets in the country right now.

FWIW, we ended up looking at the East Bay instead, where while the market is still tight, it's not as absolutely nuts as is SF. We also got a place that is far, far under what by all normal criteria is what we can afford; not sure if that's why we got it, or just luck, but it worked.

Good luck. You'll find something eventually, and once you do it will move fast, but if you don't want to deal with the wait you may want to be flexible about location. Otherwise get yourself a nice temporary place and keep at it. And be ready to move immediately if you see something that sounds good (and you actually get through when you call/email about it) -- see it as soon as you can, have application materials and credit check in hand and ready to hand over on the spot, and, unfortunately, be prepared to apply to a LOT of places. Or you could get lucky and get a place tomorrow. It feels a bit like playing the lottery these days -- lots of money down the drain in application fees, and (assuming great credit and good references and income sufficient for the apartment rent) it seems to just be a matter of luck when it comes to actually being the one to win that golden ticket/apartment lease.

[hsw]

Disagree

Only relevant comp in world for SF mkt is Manhattan

SF housing (rentals or buying) is <<50% of cost of Manhattan (comparable location/newness/quality incl civilized HVAC, Net, etc/garaging, etc)

Incomes in SV software/finance for comparable-caliber professionals are at least equal to or up to 2+x Manhattan (and Manhattan has no serious tech money/career opps)

Income tax rates in CA are materially lower than those of Manhattan, US' highest

And both towns have lots of new condo towers w/many units owned by investors seeking creditworthy tenants (but almost no Manhattan tower incl 15CPW has decent undgd garages no matter cost of condo)

The few competent landlords w/decent condos generally seek creditworthy tenants....and once finding such a tenant often don't increase rents for many yrs, making many essentially immune to rent cycles during the various 5-10yr boom-bust cycles of RE

Shrewd tenants (many of whom have always viewed owning real estate as an illiquid, inefficient lifestyle choice, almost never a decent investment on any risk-adjusted basis) simply rent some new condo in whatever is latest new condo tower for 5-10 yrs until next latest/greatest tower is built (kinda like leasing a new car every 2yrs or getting a new iPhone every 2yrs, either leased by some auto mfr or some telecom carrier, and just moving on to the next new-tech iteration when it arrives and lease is up for renewal)....same game in either SF or NYC where lots of bored rich folks from all over US and RoW buy condos in "cool" cities/playgrounds as "investments" and seek the elusive, decent, long-term tenant to achieve an acceptable return on their "investment"...

[mayorhaggar]

So glad I left. There's just no way living in some drafty mildewy shoebox in San Francisco is worth the prices that are being charged. Unless you work in tech in the Bay Area, I guarantee you that your wages are not going up anywhere at the same rate as these rental hikes, and you're lucky if you've gotten any kinds of raises or bonuses in the last 4 years. And if you do work in tech you're probably going to be out of work in a couple of years when the bubble bursts.

I found this recently, I dunno what year it's from but clearly high rents have been a concern in SF for quite a while.

[Natural510]

In other news, Oakland has a high crime rate.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by checkup

-see posting on craigslist for an apartment that opens up on Aug 1; respond within 10 minutes of posting
-go visit 2 days later; apparently I'm the 6th person he saw
-put in application
-he calls me 4 hours later to say that the building owners put me 3rd on the waitlist and they went with someone else

wtf? Not sure what their criteria is--I'm a professional making 200k+/year. More to the point, this rental market in SF is obscene

EDIT: I should also add that I once responded to a posting 30 minutes after it was posted. I get a response 1 hour later telling me that the unit has been taken. WTF

Maybe the other applicants had a better credit score and better references? It's not always solely about income.

Also, during the last really tight rental market during the 90's when my family was trying to find larger accommodation, a man offered the landlord to put in new carpeting...he's the one the got the place. There were plenty of stories of folks bribing landlords with expensive gifts, season tix to 49's games, artwork, etc. Sadly, it's nothing new here.

[Oreo's Mom]

I remember the dot com era in SF in the '90s. You would show up to see an apartment listed for rent and there were people lined up for a block to check out the place. if you could afford to pay six months to a year's worth of rent up front it may make your application more competitive. Good luck! I grew up and will always love the bay area but I am sure glad to have moved away due to the high cost of living!

[checkup]

Originally Posted by Natural510

In other news, Oakland has a high crime rate.

Well, if you can post a personal anecdote about how you got mugged in Oakland, I think that's worth posting/reading on this forum. Puts a personal touch on things