Where is the best place to live or around SF?? (in my current situation) (San Francisco: sale, apartments)

[ksy312]

Hey guys, I'm planning to move to SF very very soon..

I have about $5,000 in cash, car, and a cell phone. I'm 24 years old who enjoys active city life and loves to be around nature / beach. I don't have a job lined up yet, but I might soon in Novato.. I'm not squeamish, as long as its relatively safe, no gangs walking around middle of the night, I'm good.

I know Daly City and Ingleside are pretty safe and doable rent $, which should last me around 3 - 4 months tops, that should be enough time for me to find any sorts of job.

So if the job does go through in Novato, where is a best place to live just outside SF but close to Novato?

I don't want to commute 30 - 40 mins a day wasting my time in my car.. I want relatively short commute 20 - 30 mins and live around active city like area.

Any suggestions? Any inputs would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

[04kL4nD]

It's really difficult to give you an answer based the limited info you provided. 5k might last you 2-3 months if you're lucky, but not much longer than that. How much will your monthly salary be? Once you figure that out, it'll be a lot easier to tell you where you can afford.

[ksy312]

5k should last me more than 2-3 months..

I'm looking at rent 800 max, but I'm sure I can find one thats cheaper 650 - 700 + 50 utilities + 25 wifi + 60 phone + 400 food / other expenses.. should last me good 3 and a half months.

Like I said before, I'm not squeamish, I'm used to live in small ****ty rough apartments. As I long as I don't hear gunshots at night I'm good. I'm looking to get a room, with roommates.

I don't have a job lined up, but I'm sure I can find any sorts of job within that time frame I bought from 5k.

Where is the best area? I heard easy bay is bit like suburbs which I'm not down to, I want active urban life but close to the nature.

[jade408]

What you want doesn't exist. Novato is in the middle of suburbia. Most of the urban bay area is very expensive. $800 gets you a room share in a mediocre neighborhood at best.

What is your skill set. What kind of work are you looking for?

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by ksy312

5k should last me more than 2-3 months..

I'm looking at rent 800 max, but I'm sure I can find one thats cheaper 650 - 700 + 50 utilities + 25 wifi + 60 phone + 400 food / other expenses.. should last me good 3 and a half months.

Ok, let's analyze your criteria a little. You want an urban environment, so that basically means SF or Oakland. There is about 20 such availability in the entire SF and about the same in Oakland. Let's focus on SF first:

Of the 20 postings in SF, some of them are bound to scams. So let's be conservative and say there are about 15 room-for-rent that are $700/mo or under. How many people do you think also want what you want? I can tell you, each of the opening can get upward of 50 people interested in it. I once posted a room for rent in the Marina and got over one hundred emails in one day! So yes, it's possible that you can find something for under $800 but the odds are against you.

Now, let's focus on Oakland. Many of the openings are in neighborhood that you said you'd avoid. That leaves about 10 available for you to choose from. Again, there are bound to be many more than 10 people who want them. So you'll be in competition as well.

And on top of that, you want something close to nature. Which I guess, probably narrow that list of 30 down to about 1 or 2.

Now do you see what Jade is talking about?

Yes, it's possible you find something for under $800, but be prepared to pay for a lot more in the (likely) event that you don't get what you want.

Now, if you're a girl you may have a better chance of landing a cheap room. However, since you don't have a job lined up, and you will be competing with renters who have stable employment, I honestly don't think your chance is very good unless you can bring something to the table like cook for your roommates, fix up their cars/bikes, etc.

Originally Posted by ksy312

Like I said before, I'm not squeamish, I'm used to live in small ****ty rough apartments. As I long as I don't hear gunshots at night I'm good. I'm looking to get a room, with roommates.

I don't think you understand. Small ****ty is the standard here. You don't get a discount for living in small ****ty, most of us live in small ****ty!

Originally Posted by ksy312

I don't have a job lined up, but I'm sure I can find any sorts of job within that time frame I bought from 5k.

Where is the best area? I heard easy bay is bit like suburbs which I'm not down to, I want active urban life but close to the nature.

I can recommend something but do you really want to know?
.

[jade408]

You also probably want to rule out working in Novato. It is about 30 miles from SF and doesn't meet your commuting standards. Basically you are going to need to live in a crappy apartment and have a longer commute.

[zdg]

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/apa/4667110162.html

If you were hoping to live in SF and reverse commute to North Bay, as others have stated, there is no way with your budget unless you want to live in Cracktown.

[dalparadise]

Not going to happen. It's been said that "San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality." You just bumped up against that reality.

Novato is suburban, semi-rural and 1 hour-1.5 hours away from the cities at peak commute times. You will chew through $5K in deposits and pre-paid rent in about a month and a half (if you catch lightning in a bottle and find someone willing to rent you a closet in their shanty in the Bayview without any verifiable income (and you somehow beat everyone else to it)).

Your car is a liability in SF or Oakland, for both cost to park and risk of break-in. You can't afford either. Bridge fees are $5.00-$6.00 per day to commute. Gas, insurance, maintenance, etc. is not affordable either.

Daly City does not meet your urban criteria. It is a commuter suburb 1.5 hours from Novato at peak times and offers almost no semblance of urban living.

You might -might- find something at the farthest edge of your parameters in the worst parts of the flats in Berkeley. It still would be more suburban than I suspect you're looking for, but you could probably get up to Novato within 40-45 minutes and a $5.00 bridge fee. There are many willing roommates, but they are students and probably have many more resources than you. Your situation will be a tough sale to them.

Good luck, but as I wrote, I don't think your scenario is possible here.

[ksy312]

wow you guys are really pessimistic.. nevertheless you guys never really answered my questions.. say what you want, I'm still making the move.. people move to places like SF, NY, LA all the time without any cash and still able to survive. Yea it will be tough as hell for next couple months or maybe a year, but its something I have to do and I want to see what I'm made of.

Yea what if there are 7 decent scarce craiglist offerings for room, what makes you think I can't get it? Are you serious?

I don't think you understand small and ****ty by the way, what you guys have here is considered nice for me. I lived in rough small parts in Seoul through my childhood, its different outside the States..

There are ways guys, you guys just think inside the box...

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by ksy312

wow you guys are really pessimistic.. nevertheless you guys never really answered my questions.. say what you want, I'm still making the move.. people move to places like SF, NY, LA all the time without any cash and still able to survive. Yea it will be tough as hell for next couple months or maybe a year, but its something I have to do and I want to see what I'm made of.

Yea what if there are 7 decent scarce craiglist offerings for room, what makes you think I can't get it? Are you serious?

I don't think you understand small and ****ty by the way, what you guys have here is considered nice for me. I lived in rough small parts in Seoul through my childhood, its different outside the States..

There are ways guys, you guys just think inside the box...

No, it's not that I don't think you can do it. It's that what you are asking for does not exist. There is no urban living within your desired commute time from Novato. And yes, competition for apartments here makes your desired arrangement nearly impossible. NEARLY impossible.

Much better candidates (employed, willing to pay many months in advance, capable of putting down thousands in a deposit) will line up 20-30 deep in front of you in San Francisco. Oakland is not as bad, but is still far from work and will chew up your $5K almost as fast. That's just reality.