After almost 3 months of sifting through hundreds of scams on Craigslist, I finally found a room within my tiny tiny price range!  To anyone who is trying to find a place to live here in the city, I feel you. I empathize with you. Finding a room in the city is stupid difficult. I have honestly gone through more “roommate” interviews than job interviews. And let me tell you something, I’ve learned to hate “roommate” interviews with a deep passion. One of the worst was probably when I was invited with all of the other potential “roommates” to hang out with the current tenants all at once. It felt like I was rushing for a sorority. I felt like I had to do handstands and just to get the tenants’s attention. Ugh. The worst part was that I recognized the same people at the other apartment interviews within the neighborhood. The post high school popularity contest is essentially apartment hunting in San Francisco. 

But finally, I am ecstatic that my apartment hunting is finally OVER. I have a small little 10X10 square to call my own. For all of you who are still searching, I’ve got some words of advice.

Tips on finding a SF apartment

(*Note: This may only apply to people who have a budget under $1200. If you are big ballin’, you probably don’t need this.)

1. Set a Craigslist email alert. You can set your preferences to your budget, neighborhood, pictures only, etc. This way you will be alerted right away once new listings come out. This is important because you want to email postings within hours of the post. Or else, your email will be lost amongst a sea of emails from people just as desperate as you.
2. Have a template ready. Very similar to cover letters. Nobody’s got time to write a new email over and over again. So just have a few paragraphs saying who you are meaning: name, occupation, weekly schedule, favorite bands, tv shows, hobbies. Extra Credit: show a sense of humor.
3. Include social media. The best way to show that you are not an Axe Murderer is having a real Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram.
4. Do Not Register for Roomster. It is a scam. Even though there are many seemingly real ads on Craigslist describing the roommates saying they like beer and to hangout. Most of them are still scams. They will text you saying that they want to make sure you are not a robot and send you a link to the Roomster website. Don’t do it. I wish someone told me this earlier 😦
5. This is a no-brainer. But don’t waste your time on anyone who says they are out of town. I had a guy who told me that he was in an accident and had to move to Texas. He wanted me to send him a money order. Puh-lease. He even sent me a real SF address.
6. My smart friend figured this one out. Don’t send your phone number via email. If you want someone to have your number, type it out as one, two, three, four as oppose to 1, 2, 3, 4. Some of the posts are linked to computers. They electronically read your number and spam you via text.
7. Don’t give up! I understand how hard and frustrating it can be to find a place to call home in this tiny city. But don’t settle for less. A home is where you find solace after a long day of work. It’s not just going to be a room, it’s going to be your home.

Goodluck!!

My neighborhood. (Not my photo though!)