Help with moving to Berkeley (Oakland, Lafayette: sublet, rentals, houses)

[rey3etw]

Hi everyone, so I'll be comin out to the Bay Area from the East coast this saturday My girlfriend just moved out to Oakland a couple weeks ago herself and we are looking for a 1 BR in Berkeley.

Been looking for about 2 weeks now and still nothing seems like everytime a listing goes up on Craigslist by the time we call its already rented out. Just today, a new listing had gone up, I had called someplace in the morning immediately and she was going to go see it the same day at 6 pm, and then by 3 pm it was already rented out.

Any suggestions??? I've been using mostly craigslist, but we really need to get a nice place by Sept 1st!! Oh ya we're mostly lookin for places between $800-1100

[cardinal2007]

My friend is out there everyday looking, he says it is the worst time to look because of all the other students. The semester in Cal starts really soon, and a lot of students like living in Berkeley.

[JCPTNH08]

I just rented in Lafayette. I tried to go the Craigslist route and arrange showings of houses myself, but faced the same problem - too much competition.

My suggestion is to work with a property management company. You don't pay them anything, they make their commission off the property owner. Best of all, they can see all of the rentals that aren't on Craigslist and can see them before they appear online. They'll arrange the showings with the property manager it's listed with. It makes the process less stressful.

Good luck

[artemis78]

If you can wait till mid-Sept or October 1st--do it. Stay with friends, or find a short-term sublet (easier in the city than in Berkeley, perhaps). But an October lease will not only give you *much* less competition--you'll probably also get more for your money, since summer start dates are notoriously more expensive in Berkeley given the increased demand from students. It's painful to look at this time of year.

-From one who has made this mistake twice before!

[rey3etw]

thanks guys, really appreciate all the advice. may opt to wait till october 1st. I'll keep looking in the meantime!