apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Craigslist is definitely the way to go. I moved from NYC a little over a year ago and found that Craigslist had every apartment that I saw on other sites plus more, all in one spot. If you need any help looking for a comperable neighborhood in SF compared to NY, let me know and maybe i can come up with something...
And, while apartment hunting is a little less of a contact sport than it is in NY, you still have to jump on the postings the minute they come up for the best apartments.

Still word of mouth networking....if you want something good.

Also if you have a pet the SFSPCA has lists of pet friendly apartments in the city.
I am in the east bay (Berkeley) and really close to the BART which I walk to in 5 minutes and it takes me to SF very quickly. There's also a carpool commute that's easy and a transbay bus. Over here the rents may be a bit less and the weather a bit warmer, but just like the city, you have to be aware of good or not so good neighborhoods.
Berkeley, Albany, parts of Oakland are all nice.

I moved here 18 months ago from Austin...ditto....Craigslist and you have to be ready to move on it. If there is an "open house" for it, be first in line with all your personal info to fill out an application and a copy of your credit report. And hopefully you do not have an 80 lb Lab or you will be looking a long time for something affordable.

A friend who is searching for an SF rental via Craigslist says that most of the fab listings want instant tenants, i.e.-- available now but taken tomorrow. Pack your bags first, I guess. Craigslist is the place to look though.

When I moved to SF I used Craigslist, but I also wandered around areas I liked and took down numbers on the for-rent signs. I did see some nice places with the walk around method, but Craigslist still proved to be the winner. Now I'm moving to Manhattan in about a month and am dreading that apartment search!!!

I love the photo. Kind of Bates Motel.

CL is good, but try googling the city of your choice and rentals, too. If you're going to be in this vicinity before you HAVE to move in, I'd also suggest canvasing neighborhoods you're interested in. A lot of the place I've seen in Alameda never showed up when I was googling and using CL.

I live in Alameda and it only takes me about 20 minutes to bus into San Francisco every morning. If you want to try living in a small town, this is the place. There don't appear to be any bad neighborhoods and Park Street is where all the cool stuff to do is. It's also a LOT cheaper than anywhere in the City.

The Lake Meritt district of Oakland is nice, as is Piedmont, but stay out of West Oakland. I lived in Emeryville for a while, too, but it was just too industrial for me and I was warned to be very careful at night. If you live there and have a car, make sure you have a secure garage to park in. Can't help much with San Francisco, except to say STAY OUT OF HUNTER'S POINT. Holy crap, that place is scarey.

Good luck!

If you're moving to SF with a job transfer - then your company should have an office that will help you with your transition and you'll be entitled to have corporate housing for the first few months.

If you don't have a job lined up already and/or 6 months of living expenses (minimum) in the bank, please don't come to SF - It's no longer the place where you can just come on vacation from Ohio with your life in a powder-blue set of Samsonite, suddenly decide to stay and get a cute little place on Barbary Lane.

I moved here from the East Coast and had absolutely no luck finding a place on craigslist before I arrived- everyone wants to meet in person before they rent to you (makes sense)...

I crashed with a friend when I first arrived and found a place off craigslist within a week.

Craislist, Craigslist, Craigslist. When I moved from Sacramento to SF I quickly realized that it is your most valuable resource.