I moved into SF in July and in my search for 2 bedroom apartments I found the prices are pretty similar throughout. Obviously some areas are nicer than others, but overall the range was pretty similar. Expect to pay $1000 (if you're really lucky, I saw some single bedrooms around that price in the valley) - $2000/each. I landed a bit on the lower end of that spectrum and I was quite lucky to get the deal that I did. $1500/each is probably a reasonable starting expectation.
I pay $1,000/month for a room in a 2BR apartment in the middle of Hayes Valley in SF. If you live in a less central neighborhood like the Richmond, Sunset, Glen Park, Bernal Heights, etc. it will be much lower.
I hate to stick my head up, but I pay less than that for a 2Br in the Mission (I moved in about a year ago). It's not luxurious, but it'll do.
The missing piece is that (relatively) cheap real estate is not advertised, you need to get it from a friend who's leaving SF. It can be frustrating sometimes that good apartments are allocated by seniority (how long you've lived here & who you know) rather then by the free market.
$3500 if you want to live in a new building. I've been looking at 1 bedrooms and rent has come down in SF. Not hard to find one for less than $2500 now (in a good neighborhood).
> The San Francisco units will rent for $1,595 a month.
I was wondering about this pricing. I pay the same amount for a 850 square foot apartment in Upper East Side Manhattan (83rd and 1st so a 10 minute walk from the 4/5/6 but still...). I started reading with the thought "I'd pay ~$800 for that if it was decently located".
I split an apartment in Cole Valley SF in 2006-7 and think we were at ~$1800 for a two bedroom but it was a pretty crappy apartment for the area.
That's not unreasonable for a house with a few roommates in SF. A studio in the same neighborhood would be maybe $2k or a bit more, and a small, kinda-crappy 1-bedroom would start at $2.6k.
So how does that rent compare to the mean in the area, and what are you renting at that price? Because, as an outsider, that seems remarkably low (the averages for SF that I can find suggest 2-3k for a studio or 1-bedroom).
Also, how does the rest of your budget break down? Math suggests $1200/mo for all other expenses and I'm curious how that's allocated.
Rent in SF is much higher & you get a lot less. The other day I met a lady looking at 1BR aparrments and she said in the newer buildings, it was $6500 to $7500. $3500 is the average price for a 1BR.
Rents are going slightly down in SF. You can rent a room for $1200-1500 and pay $300-400 month in parking. A friend was paying $1900 month to share a place with 5 people in Russian Hill.
FWIW, I was paying $1900 for a studio in SF in 2010. You've got to go back quite a bit farther than 6 years for $1500 to be a typical price for a decent 1 bedroom.
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