I AM MOVING OUT OF MY 2BR APARTMENT IN THE SUNSET ON FEB 1ST.

THE RENT WEVE PAID FOR THE LAST 3-1/2YRS(RENT CONTROLED) WAS $1900 TOTAL - SO THATS $950/MTH PER PERSON. DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY UTILITIES EXCEPT GARBAGE. APARTMENT IS BEAUTIFUL, CHERRY FLOORS, TOP FLOOR WITH ROOF ACCESS, NO LAUNDRY BUT A CLOSET WITH ALL THE WATER/ELEC/VENT ALREADY THERE, CARPETED BEDROOMS APPROX 10X12, 1 MASTER BATHROOM AND 1 BATHROOM OFF THE LIVING ROOM(BOTH FULL BATHS), GAS STOVE, DOUBLE SINK, DISHWASHER, NO ELEVATOR, BUILDING IS 4YRS OLD, 7'X7' WINDOW IN BOTH BEDROOMS LOOKING WEST TO THE OCEAN, ON A CLEAR DAY U CAN SEE THE HORIZON FROM THE ROOF, 1/2 BLOCK FROM GGPARK, DIRECTLY DWNSTAIRS IS 20TH AND IRVING SHOPS AND FOODS, PARKING SUCKS, 1 BLOCK FROM N-JUDAH LIGHT RAIL.

http://www.mmgprop.com FRIEND WORKS FOR THESE GUYS - THEY ARE NOT CITIAPARTMENTS - THEY WERE THE WORST MGMT GROUP IN THE CITY A FEW YEARS AGO.

YA JUST GOTTA LOOK BRAH, IT AINT EASY FINDING AN APARTMENT IN SF - I JUST MOVED TO UPPER HAIGHT - IT AINT CHEAP! SF IS ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES TO LIVE IN, IN THE COUNTRY. MAYBE TRY OAKLAND OR BERKELEY OR SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, DALY CITY OR THE PENISULA. GOOD LUCK Y0!

Dual faucet bathroom sinks ?

Poor baby !

software/hardware engineers mostly. if price and amenities are an issue, ditto ^ and look in south city or Oakland.

As suggested earlier, I would look into Peninsula area: Burliingame, San Mateo, Belmont, etc. Rent is still expensive (1100 up for a studio) however the space is more "humane" (LOL) and most apartment complexes have their own laundry area.

A one bedroom in San Mateo, for example is roughly 1300/mo. I would look into complexes west of 101

You can either have roomates vs your own place, a nice apartment, or affordability. Choose one of the three. I agree it sucks, but if you do not have money chances are you are not getting a nice apartment.

Dude get a truck and live in it. Apple tech spends 5 years living in truck I bumped into this after his first year. He was saving something like $850/month in rent. Cutting your expenses that much is like getting a $12,500 raise ($850 *1.25 taxes * 12 months)

If I didn't have a kid I would be doing this. The cost of rent is stupid everywhere. I figured it out one time that every penny I made after taxes for **FOUR MONTHS** went to rent. I was making considerably above minimum wage and my apartment was in the bottom 25% price wise. It is hard to escape the rat race given those conditions.

Spending a boatload to live in an awesome uninsulated craftsman in Berkeley... worth every single penny I will pay over the next twenty years.

Daly City? Where the sun refuse to shine" the fog rains on the laundry building here all summer/winter 2- but I only pay $1100.00 for a studio apt. and take Bart into the city.

Burlingame? one of my friends pays $1300./mon there

you guys are more ridiculous than I thought.

living in a truck is not ok with me....and is technically not architecture in SF. A parking space in SF, btw, will cost you at least $200/month.

$1100 for a studio in Daly City?! There are nice studios in sunny Berkeley for $850. Why would you live in Daly City in a studio??!

To the person who mentioned that living costs about a quarter of your income - hello!?! Isn't that the point of working? That is a great place to be in....as most rental applications state that you must make more than 3 times the rent to qualify as a prospective tenant. I'm confused, how much do you feel you should be paying for rent?

Thank you to *Stones" for the 2 bed offer...but it sounds like the rent will skyrocket after you leave if what you say about the past 3 years being controlled is true.

And also, thanks to Michael S. Bergin who was the only person who really spoke of true architecture. May you enjoy your amazing abode.

Let me clear up some things. My (max) budget is 2,000/mo. and the place is for my significant other and myself to share (So..."our" budget). We are both architects making a normal salary for architects with 4 years experience. We'd love to pay $2,000 a month for something in the city...we're just not going to splurge on an apt. without a garbage disposal and so much paint on the cabinetry that you pull a muscle every time you go to get a dish. The hardwood floors and "period details" are usually amazing - I just can't understand why people can't properly update a kitchen.

Thank you, Time for more padmapper.com

What I stated was the apartment cost about 33% of my income years ago. Just to give some background I threw in that it was towards the bottom of what was available in my rental market.

The proper amount to spend on rent is $0. Unrealistic for most of us. The people I know who bought years ago or were willing to live in a multi-family are now on easy street. Imagine that $2,000 you will be pissing away on rent as investment or disposable income. That is a slight exageration since there are always repairs, vacancies, and taxes. I too am wasting a bunch of money on rent so I am not trying to come off as righteous.

I realize the live in your truck thing is a bit extreme and agree it is not architecture, but for those of us in school now facing a mountain of loans it might take some real sacrifices and creativity to get back on a good financial footing.

Wow. Not sure why I read those, but damn glad I am not in SF!

This is where I lived. I had a small loft with a 20' tall ceiling. There was a garden in the center of the building. It was a great apt. It was $1500 ten years ago. I see the rents haven't gone up and the deposit is only $700 now.

You can walk to the cable car turnaround at Powell. You can use your MUNI pass to take free midnight cable car rides. Bring your sweetie, you'll have the whole car to yourselves!!!

http://somaresidenceapts.com/

Jbush - we all dream of the day we can afford to buy in this city...

make - thanks for the tip

In addition... we visited around fifty different places over three months looking for a good place to rent. We ran into some real terrible places with terrible property owners/managers looking to take advantage of people in this outrageous rental market. I do indeed believe that investing in a great place is akin to buying into your own product as an architect... Good luck!

Last bit of advice. Do not get a studio!!!

My now ex-g/f(architect) and I rented a studio in the Tender-Nob (Bush and Larkin) about 4yrs ago paid $1295 w/o utilities. We broke up and she moved out by the 8th mth in that tiny little shoebox. I now live in a 1 br with my g/f(landscape arch) and we dont fight about who is watching tv or who is reading a book or who is double clicking to hard or who is breathing to deep or chewing to loud. Having walls is a wonderful thing!

Uhh, hotpads.com

There's a 141 apartment listings in San Fransisco for 1-2 bedrooms under $2000.

Seriously, if you don't know how to do a little real estate research...

...you need to give up Architecture©®™.

OX Bridge - Thanks for your ONE SECOND snide contribution to the search. If you had been seriously looking for an apt for the past 2 months, you would know that:

1. When an ad lists "one bedroom," it many times redefine what a bedroom is. I have seen studios be called one bedrooms, window-less closets be called one bedrooms, and today, there was a dining room which was referred to as the bedroom, which one had to pass through to access both the kitchen and the bathroom. There was no closet.

I am pro re-thinking traditional spaces...but I am very much anti ripping people off in the process.

2. Any one bedroom at $2000 will be shoe box sized....or have something insanely deal breaking about it. Such as:
a. being directly adjacent to or in the middle of a public housing project
b. have the most tasteless wall to wall, pet-piss stained carpeting
c. be in a marginal pocket of the city that is either too far or too dangerous to be considered realistically
d. have mini-sized appliances - what is this new trend?!
e. the damn kitchens are horrible! They do not even have garbage disposals. Refrigerators and microwaves end up in the adjacent room...because the "kitchen" isn't adequate. Good luck finding a dishwasher at $2000. Happy cheap ass white appliances and electric stoves.

I am so pissed that developers (who's job require them to think only about money) are dictating the way we are inhabiting our cities!!


3. Seriously, If you don't know how to do a representative sample of research, you need to give up being an asshole.


By all means, if you want to help find me a property, go ahead! I am increasing my budget to $2300/mo.

OX -
Hotpads is not only cartoonishly ornamented with difficult interface...but it is severely outdated....several posts are tagged with this:

"Apartment Unit for Rent
Last updated: 80 days, 16 hours ago"

What's "shoe box sized?"

And it's Uxbridge... as in the neighborhood of West London, the one filled with all the canals.

It's a reference to how this now affluent neighborhood used to be a suburban hellhole in the 19th century.

William Arabin once said this about this neighborhood, "They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets. I know it from experience."

under 600 sf

Best advice?

Move to New York.

I interviewed in both Boston and New York.
The east coast is unable to offer decent salaries for architects right now, post/mid recession.
I am staying here for the time being where the weather is mild and the food fresh.

Are you patronizing me? NY has one bedrooms at 100 sf.

My first thought when bmf said "no garbage disposals" WWWWAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH poor baby...

But stepping back for a moment the guy is looking to spend $2000/month. That puts you well upmarket anyplace I have lived and you would expect better amenities. I know it rents are driven by pay scales but $2000/month for a 1 BR still blows my mind.


I know landlords don't like garbage disposals because many renters are idiots and you make a ton of repair work for yourself by putting them in your units. Perhaps it is the same with garbage disposals. Another thought is that their is a liability insurance surcharge for having one.

I have lived in four states and with one exception the higher the payscale the more rent costs. It always seems to equal out. The exception was South East Florida where the pay was lousy but the rents were very high.