short-term / temp. rent? (for sale, apartments, hotel)

[free]

Hi everyone...

I am planning to move to the SF Bay area, but my wife and I are living in the UK at the moment. So we were wondering what would be the best place to go (websites etc) to to arrange for a temporary / short-term rental apartment
in the bay area (preferably the city or peninsula)...
Is there a community where you can talk directly to a landlord and come up with an agreement?

My problem is that obviously we cannot be there in person to sign anything beforehand, but we want to have a place waiting for us when we arrive at the airport - that doesn't take hotel prices.

It's also not just the two of us as we will have a 1 yr old boy by then, so we cannot just rent a room in a house share.

Any suggestions will be more than welcome.

Thanks,
-free-

[sonarrat]

craigslist: san francisco classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events

Look in the temporary & sublets section especially. But make sure to give advance notice before calling them international on what might be their cell phones!