

Moving to SF in a 3 weeks - any advice? - joebeetee

We (me+wife+20month old) are moving to SF in 2 or 3 weeks from London. Has anyone got an advice that they can share with us? Particularly to do with housing &#x2F; good|bad areas &#x2F; commuting, or just anything else that you think would be helpful.<p>At the moment the plan is AirBnb it for 3 weeks while looking for a place to rent. I&#x27;m going to be working on Mission and 2nd.<p>Thanks so much!
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jophde
Live in the East bay and pay half the rent and BART into the city. You won't
find a 2 BR in SF that has a dishwasher for under 3 or 4k a month that isn't
in a sketchy neighborhood. Depending on where you live it will be faster to
BART from downtown Oakland to the Mission than it will be get from say North
Beach to Mission.

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joebeetee
Great, thanks for this.

Yeah, I must say, it's hard to stomach paying these amounts when you can pay
half the rent just across the way.

What's the commute like?

WIll definitely take a look around there when we arrive. Thanks for the tip.

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jophde
Around Lake Merritt in Oakland is nice, particularly Adam's Point and Grand
(Northern Shore). It's a little far from the BART but definitely walkable. It
does get more ghetto the closer you get the BART stations though, at least on
Oakland.

If I had a family and needed to get to SF easily I would strongly consider
Rockridge. It's a bit more highbrow than the rest of Oakland so it won't be
much cheaper but you will get what you pay for. It has it's own BART station
too. Berkeley is cool too but it's a college town. Any of the East Bay BART
stations will get you any where in the city in about 15 mins and it won't be
crowded since it's a reverse commute.

The only downside of living is the East Bay is that BART closes at 12:30ish.
If you see yourself being out later than that it's about a $40-60 cab fare
back. There is a late bus, but I have never ridden. I have heard mixed things
about it but I just always assumed it would be a disaster.

I will so though, if money were no object I would live in San Francisco. You
will probably be slightly envious. It's just a much better city in my opinion.

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joebeetee
Great, thanks so much for the reply.

Yes, a few people have said that we should check out the East Bay. It makes
sense financially, so we'll definitely take a look around. However, I'd love
to live in the city if we can. Part of me thinks, we're moving all that way,
let's get the full SF experience.

I've heard that having a car isn't common in SF itself and is really
expensive. What do you think?

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jophde
You shouldn't have one in the city. It will be about $150-$300 to park it.
It's really not faster to get around SF in a car either. I usually just walk
most places. It's really not that big of a place area wise. Parking in the
East Bay is pretty cheap. I was paying $75 a month.

Having a car is very nice if you want to explore the rest of California. Zip
Cars and rentals can be a bit expensive. Especially if you are trying to do a
weekend trip to Tahoe. If I was living in SF I would probably get a car and
park it somewhere else that is near the BART for much less.

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dvpdvp
Here is a fun little guide to SF that is for the most part accurate:
[http://www.thebolditalic.com/drewhoolhorst/stories/1958-movi...](http://www.thebolditalic.com/drewhoolhorst/stories/1958-moving-
to-san-francisco)

Here is part 2:
[http://www.thebolditalic.com/drewhoolhorst/stories/2138-movi...](http://www.thebolditalic.com/drewhoolhorst/stories/2138-moving-
to-san-francisco-part-2)

Best of luck with the move! I'm @danielpearson on twitter if you need anything
else!

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joebeetee
Haha, thanks so much. Funny, but surprisingly informative. WIll stay away from
You-Arent-Rich-Enough-To-Live-Here-Landia. 2 kids and a dog land looking good.

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peacemaker
It's really difficult to get a rental in the city, especially as a foreigner
with no credit history. All the best places are available only for minutes and
usually have queues of people outside ready to take them ASAP. These people
will be carrying their credit reports, references and the ability to place a
down-payment instantly.

If you want to live in the nicer areas in the city, be prepared to pay minimum
$3000 per month rent for a 1 bed place. If you're lucky, you might find an
agency that won't require a credit report - instead they'll just want more
deposit, maybe 2 months rent.

Seriously, get an AirBnb or cheap hotel sorted out and expect to be there a
while during your search. Also, don't rule out Oakland/East bay because of all
the bad stories you hear. It's not that bad and getting better.

I moved from the UK too so I know how hard it can be. Feel free to email me
and I will do my best to help.

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joebeetee
Thanks so much. The list of stuff that we need to provide as well is really
helpful.

We're looking 2 bed house, 3 - 4k.

We've already got a BofA bank account/credit cards with 1 years spending on it
- hopefully that'll count towards credit history?

You're right - I've realised that the only way is going to be AirBnB-ing it
for a few weeks. No way you can get a proper feel for the area looking at a
map,

I've taken a guess at your email :) - mine is joe - at the domain in my
profile - would it be okay to ask you a few more q's?

Thanks so much!

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peacemaker
No problem, email away :)

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tectonic
SF is expensive, which can be a shock. I think staying in an AirBnb while you
search is a great idea.

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joebeetee
Yup - we've noticed... :) Would love to just move straight into a house, but
there seems to be lots of rentals that are immediately available, so hopefully
we should be okay after 2 - 3 weeks.

Anything else to look out for?

Thanks for the comment.

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andrewhillman
Stay away from Tenderloin at night.

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joebeetee
Noted :)

Draws you in by sounding like a nice steak...

