Moving to San Francisco - Need housing advice (Oakland, Fremont: apartments, rentals)

[greenman123]

Hi,

My wife and I will be moving to San Francisco, CA from India in couple of months and need advice on renting a house there. The office location is 199, Fremont street, SF. I have the following requirements and constraints:

- Looking for a one bedroom apartment for around $2500 per month
- Since we don't have kids yet, there is no constraint on schools.
- Ideally should be near some public transportation for commute.
- Should be safe.

Do I have any options within San Francisco at my budget? What about Fremont ,Union city or Daly city ?

Regarding owning a car, I am looking at couple of options:

- If I get a place in San Francisco then I probably don't need to buy a car. Is that a right assumption? I have read that public transport is relatively good in SF and with car sharing facilities like zip car I can manage daily chores like groceries etc. If I don't have to buy a car and if it results in some saving, then I guess I can increase my rental budget by $300.

- If I get a place outside of SF like Fremont, Union city, Daly city (any other suggestions?), then I presume I definitely need a car. Is that right?

Please suggest some neighborhoods in San Francisco which meet my requirements. Also, any other locations I can look nearby from where I can commute to work? I don't expect to drive to work.

[Chuck5000]

You need a car everywhere outside of SF and downtown Oakland. SF's public transit is such that IMO it is nice to have a car in most parts of the city, believe it or not. It's bad. There are not corner groceries everywhere, like in NYC, for example. But it's typically too hard to have a car in SF unless one is wealthy or has parking.

You definitely will have options outside of the top-tier neighborhoods at 2500 for a 1 bedroom. You can get advice once you say a) how long of a commute can you tolerate, b) what your space needs are - specifically, how large? What kind of quality - i.e. do you insist upon modern appliances and a renovated apartment, or can you tolerate a somewhat worn out place that is not perfect (that is, much of SF) c) what kind of a setting do you want? A high rise? Do you like bustling neighborhoods? Do you want to be in a low-rise neighborhood? d) what kind of weather do you want - can you tolerate a lot of fog and not much sun? Half the city is foggy much of the year.

Look on Apartmentlist and on Craigslist ffor ideas on what you can get. People here can tell you about neighborhoods, etc

[tikkasf]

You will probably get a number of responses to your postings.. I would agree that you can get by in SF without a car. Some neighborhoods in SF are are better though in regard to public transportation. The western areas of San Francisco have a lot of days with overcast weather......specially during the summer months. Something to consider when looking for apt here. $2,500 is rather low for one bedroom apt in SF.....but, I would not say it would be impossible to find something. The link below is a Craigslist listing of apartments in SF with a maximum rent of $2,800. I suggest you take a look at the listings to get some idea what might be available in your budget.
San Francisco has a rent control law. The law does not apply to every rental unit though. If you moved into a rent controlled apartment, you will be paying current market rate rent.....but, you would be protected from large future rent increases....
SF bay area apartments / housing rentals - craigslist

[tikkasf]

https://www.sfmta.com/

[tikkasf]

Remodeled Spacious Apt w/ Hardwood Across From GG Park! ~ J.Wavro

2950 Fulton Street #6, LARGE 1 bdrm, great location!

GEM ON LAKE STREET, 1 bedroom apartment

Large Top Floor Edwardian Apartment; Updated Kitchen and Bath (on a busy street)

Large, Bright, Recently Remodeled, Hrdwd Flrs

just some ideas of what you may be able to find that would fit your budget

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by tikkasf

Remodeled Spacious Apt w/ Hardwood Across From GG Park! ~ J.Wavro

2950 Fulton Street #6, LARGE 1 bdrm, great location!

GEM ON LAKE STREET, 1 bedroom apartment

Large Top Floor Edwardian Apartment; Updated Kitchen and Bath (on a busy street)

Large, Bright, Recently Remodeled, Hrdwd Flrs

just some ideas of what you may be able to find that would fit your budget

I would definitely prefer a luxurious apartment near Union City Bart with an in-unit laundry, pool and fitness facility for less money over any of those places in SF.

Examples:

Verandas Apartments | Union City, California | Essex

https://www.avaloncommunities.com/ca...lon-union-city

Its a 41 minute ride from Union City to Embarcadero Bart which might be faster than riding the SF Muni bus to downtown from Outer Richmond.

The average speed of Muni buses in SF is only 8.1 mph. One can survive in SF without a car but it is an extremely miserable way to live.

The Muni Death Spiral | Feature | San Francisco | San Francisco News and Events | SF Weekly

[tikkasf]

I went 3 years without a car in SF, although sometimes inconvenient I did not find it a "miserable" way to live. As I stated in my first response in this posting thread, some neighborhoods are better then others in SF in regard to public transportation

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by capoeira

I would definitely prefer a luxurious apartment near Union City Bart with an in-unit laundry, pool and fitness facility for less money over any of those places in SF.

Examples:

Verandas Apartments | Union City, California | Essex

https://www.avaloncommunities.com/ca...lon-union-city

Its a 41 minute ride from Union City to Embarcadero Bart which might be faster than riding the SF Muni bus to downtown from Outer Richmond.

The average speed of Muni buses in SF is only 8.1 mph. One can survive in SF without a car but it is an extremely miserable way to live.

The Muni Death Spiral | Feature | San Francisco | San Francisco News and Events | SF Weekly

The Richmond is a wonderful neighborhood, and I'd prefer it over Union City any day of the week (and you couldn't pay me to live in one of those corporate-run (hope-you-like-20%-annual-rent-increases) complexes...I'd rather rent a house if I was forced to live in UC). Different strokes for different folks.

The Richmond is kind of a hidden gem in SF - often overlooked (and its weather "issues" are very overblown).

I lived in the Inner/Middle Richmond for a while with a car - it wasn't that hard to find street parking. I also rarely used my car as the 38 was pretty good for getting me downtown. Or I biked (often to Caltrain to get to work) or I just simply walked. I could walk to 3 awesome parks...and all of my daily errands were within a couple of blocks. And it is a very safe neighborhood. Pretty hard to beat.


That said, these days I wouldn't make the move to SF because I know what I was paying back then (only a couple of years ago...), and it was less than half compared to similar places posted above. Craziness...

I also am not convinced that SF is the best option for the OP (mainly because I'm not sure if the OP is interested in the City life or would rather live in suburbia). But it is worth considering.

[Ruth4Truth]

As you've gathered from the posts so far, OP, there are a variety of options for housing. You could live in the East Bay and take transit to downtown SF. Fremont/Union City, btw, is a big enclave of South Asians. If that sounds appealing to you, then--go for it. Otherwise, you have many options in SF. There are even 1-br. apartments in your price range relatively close to your workplace: the North Beach and Telegraph Hill neighborhoods, for example. The farther away you get from downtown (moving west across the city), the more space you can get for your money, however. It depends on what your priorities are: more space to live in, vs. the convenience of being able to walk to work or have a short commute to work.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/5937948561.html

The Richmond District is delightful (it's out near the beach, on the west side of town), and there are express buses for commuting downtown. It's certainly possible to live in SF without a car. You could start out without a car, and then after getting to know the area, you can decide if you want to buy a used car. But zipcar and the like, for weekend excursions should be fine. And generally, most neighborhoods do have grocery stores within walking distance. The only issue might be that in hilly neighborhoods (it's a city of hills), you might end up carrying your grocery bags up a steep hill. But the west side of town is flat, and has nice parks, restaurants, and proximity to the beach in its favor.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/5944147738.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/5942683938.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/5945587233.html

[tikkasf]

Or something like this rental below. This rental is walking distance to a BART train station and from that station, it would average about 19 min ride to the BART station close to your job. In this neighborhood you could get by, at least for awhile, without a car. Grocery stores, cafe's, restaurants, bookstore, movie theater all sort of other shops within a modest walking distance....I know this area well.....

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/5943933134.html