Finding somewhere to live in San Francisco

Rent control, and its exceptions

The city ordinance limits annual rent increases for most tenancies in buildings first occupied before June 1979, and separately gives tenants just-cause eviction protection that reaches more buildings than the price cap does. State law exempts most single-family homes and condominiums from local price control, and applies a looser statewide cap to buildings older than fifteen years. The build year is public information and worth checking on the city's property records before you apply.

• Pre-June-1979 multi-unit buildings: generally under the local rent cap.
• Single-family homes and condos: usually exempt from local price control.
• Just-cause eviction protection is broader than the price cap — the two are separate rules.
• The annual allowable increase is set by the Rent Board and published each year.

The application, and what a newcomer lacks

Landlords run a credit and background check, ask for proof of income at roughly two and a half to three times the monthly rent, and want references from a prior landlord. An empty US credit file reads as unscoreable rather than merely thin. The workarounds are the same as everywhere in the US — a US-based co-signer, a paid guarantor service, or additional rent offered up front — and an employer letter stating salary and start date carries genuine weight in a tech-heavy market.

• California caps the security deposit at one month's rent for most landlords.
• Screening fees are capped by state law and adjusted annually; each application costs one.
• Bring the package to the viewing: passport, visa, offer letter, pay stubs, bank statements, references.

Master tenants and sublets

A large share of the shared-housing market runs through master tenancies: one person holds the lease and rents rooms on. You are then a subtenant of that person, not a tenant of the landlord, and your security depends on their tenancy and their goodwill. It is a normal arrangement here and often the fastest way in, but understand what you are buying, and get the terms in writing.

Microclimates and the block

Seven miles by seven, and the weather changes across it: the Mission and Bernal Heights are reliably warmer and sunnier than the Sunset or the Richmond, which spend much of the summer under fog. Street-level conditions also vary sharply within a few blocks in parts of the city, in ways listing photographs do not convey. See the address at night, on a weekday, before deciding.

In order

1. 1Solve the credit problem first: co-signer, guarantor service, or rent in advance.
2. 2Assemble one PDF package — passport, visa, offer letter, pay stubs, bank statements, references.
3. 3Check the building's construction year before applying, not after.
4. 4View at street level in the evening as well as in daylight.
5. 5Apply selectively — each screening fee is real money and applying blind wastes it.
6. 6Ask whether you are signing with the landlord or with a master tenant.
7. 7Set up PG&E and renters insurance before move-in; confirm what internet is actually available at the address.