When to look at apartments? (lease, broker, neighborhoods)

[berkshire]

Hi everyone, new poster here, I'm moving to SF in a few months. I need to rent an apartment, and I have a firm move-in date (6/1). I plan to visit SF before that date in order to look at places and hopefully sign a lease.

My question is: when is the best time to look at apartments before my target move-in date? The week before? 2 weeks before? One month before?

I've done some brief online research, and found that most apartment ads don't post a particular move-in date--which I interpret to mean that they're available ASAP rather than, for example, on the first of the next month.

I don't want to visit too early, in which case I'm concerned I won't find any places for rent that will be available for my planned move-in date. On the other hand I don't want to show up in SF on June 1st without housing...

Thoughts?

[ubringliten]

My apt. broker recommended 2 weeks beforehand, not too late and not too early. Things do move quite quickly in the City, not as quick as NYC but quicker than most cities.

Do you have a broker? If not, I recommend driving through your favorite neighborhoods and just go into your favorite buildings that you like and ask for availability. Craiglist is your best bet because my brokers got majority of the listings from that site. I also recommend calling these Craiglist ads to schedule appointments and even ask questions or send more info/photos over email.

Good luck!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by berkshire

Hi everyone, new poster here, I'm moving to SF in a few months. I need to rent an apartment, and I have a firm move-in date (6/1). I plan to visit SF before that date in order to look at places and hopefully sign a lease.

My question is: when is the best time to look at apartments before my target move-in date? The week before? 2 weeks before? One month before?

I've done some brief online research, and found that most apartment ads don't post a particular move-in date--which I interpret to mean that they're available ASAP rather than, for example, on the first of the next month.

I don't want to visit too early, in which case I'm concerned I won't find any places for rent that will be available for my planned move-in date. On the other hand I don't want to show up in SF on June 1st without housing...

Thoughts?

any time next month should work.

Nita

[PeixeGato]

If you find a place you really like, can you swing paying for an extra week or two? This way, you'd be able to begin your search as early as May 1 (and tell them you are looking for June 1, but can move in as early as May 15), allow yourself a couple extra weeks of looking time, and have one less thing to stress about come May 15. Of course, with SF rents what they are, I know paying an extra 2 weeks is nothing to sneeze at.