Best ways to secure a 10 week room for two? (sublease, leases)

[TO12]

Hey there,

I'm moving to SF at the start of October to do a 10 week program. MY girlfriend is moving with me, and we are looking for a short term place to stay.

Because I won't be working, it needs to be cheap (~$1500/month). Also, I don't think I'll be able to get over to the bay area much earlier than when the program starts, so I pretty much need to set this up remote.

I've looked at AirBnb, and there are a few good options, but I'm wondering if there is any other good place to get this lined up. Craigslist has a ton of options, but I'm worried about running into a scammer since I can't be there in person (not too worried about renting out a sight-unseen place, since it's only 10 weeks).

Any other ideas that would be safe and secure?

Thank you.

[gone down south]

Craigslist is pretty much it.

[TO12]

Originally Posted by gone down south

Craigslist is pretty much it.

Ya, unfortunately that's all I've seen as well. Is subleases on Craigslist generally a little more 'scam-free' than full leases? That's the main thing I'm afraid of...

[Kurinji]

https://www.couchsurfing.org/ perhaps, but not sure about a 10-wk duration.

[Ceece]

Are you and your gf MOVING TO SF or just coming for 10 weeks while you do your thing? If you are indeed MOVING TO SF then you can look into all sorts of longer term living situations. If you are visiting for 10 weeks your choices will be limited to CL, and what you already know about that is giving you a few good options already. Maybe the program you are involved with can assist you? I can't imagine you would be the first one doing it who doesn't live nearby.

[TO12]

Originally Posted by Ceece

Are you and your gf MOVING TO SF or just coming for 10 weeks while you do your thing? If you are indeed MOVING TO SF then you can look into all sorts of longer term living situations. If you are visiting for 10 weeks your choices will be limited to CL, and what you already know about that is giving you a few good options already. Maybe the program you are involved with can assist you? I can't imagine you would be the first one doing it who doesn't live nearby.

Well, those are good points and I should have clarified. After the program I'll probably find a job in SF, but that's not a sure thing, so I don't want to sign a lease. That's why a cheap 2 month sublease/rental would be perfect. The big issue is just finding something that I feel comfortable doing remotely - AirBnb is really the only one I've found so far. CL would work once I get there, so maybe I'll do a combination of both.

The program is a small web development program (Dev Bootcamp), so all they can do is you of point you in the right direction (CL, AirBnb, etc.), but they can't hook you up with anything. I know that some of the out of towners are going in on a house together, but I don't think that will work since I have the GF coming with me.

Anyway, it's not a huge deal - either I'll do a full 10 weeks with an AirBnb host, or I'll do a couple weeks AirBnb, then try and scout a nice CL sublease - but I was just wondering if there are other good resources for all this. Couch surfing sounds like a good idea though, I might try and a week here and a week there sort of thing.

Thanks for the responses everyone.