First time getting an Apartment. How do I begin and what are the steps involved.?

Question

I am moving from Fl to San Fran cali. and how do I go about getting myself an apartment.

Answer 1

First thing to do is to research on good and safe neighborhoods in SanFo and then find an available place in these neighborhoods. You can search in any search engine for available apartments in SF although its much better for you to do the searching when you are already in SF and refer to the listings in their local dailies. You also have to consider the distance you have to travel from work to home as well as available parking space for your car, if you have any. You also have to consider your budget since SF is an expensive city to live and rents are kinda high compared with other cities in CA. A lot of people working in SF lives in nearby cities and take the pain of driving or take the public transportation. If you finally found a place you like and fits your budget, you must prepare yourself for the required downpayment, advance payments and other deposit securities which the owner would require. There are also owners and property management offices who also charges fee in checking your credit.

Good luck.

Answer 2

If you can afford it and have some time, travel there with a friend for 2-3 days just to apartment hunt and check out the different neighborhoods. Sharing an apartment or house with a current resident of sf will be the most economical, if you don't mind living with strangers, you can search Craigslist.com for posts from people looking for roommates, it'll be inconveniet but you can always move if it doesn't work out, usually the rules are less stringent if you're making a deal directly with the roommate.

You can read up on the rental process, moving process, and find rentals online. Lookup sites by searching for "apartment rentals" in Google or Yahoo.

Answer 3

Number one: be prepared, it's not cheap
Number two: research. If you don't know the area you are moving into, call the local police department and ask about the safe neighborhoods, and the ones to stay away from
Number three: get intouch with a good real estate agent, in all of our many moves, this has gotten us the best luck. Don't let anyone tell you this isn't the best idea. They can get you everything you want to look at within the day. They can let you look at places they don't rent too. Century 21 has always been incredibly helpful for us. It also doens't usually cost anything.
After you found the one you want, get a list of utility companies from your landlord. They will have all the numbers you need to get your stuff hooked up.
Good luck, if prepared moving can be very fun! (We have moved about 10 times ourselves in 12 years)

Answer 4

Make sure it is a legal apartment so you don't get settled in just to be evicted. Start with an on-line seach of what is available. Talk to a reputable real estate agent. I suggest doing some research before you get there. Find the neighborhood that will suit your lifestyle. Check the price range and have a budget in mind. Good luck!

Answer 5

What I did when moving to the bay area was read the local paper online and subscribe to it. Did a LOT of calling. Had relatives check them out or tell me about the areas. I ended up with a very nice apt. for $1100.

If you're in SF proper, please stay away from Richmond, Oakland, Haight-Ashbury, and Mission District. There have been a lot of shootings there lately!