It’s funny how much things have changed in the Bay Area housing market in the past 2 or so years. According to craigslist, as good a measure as any of the pulse of the Bay Area, there were fewer than 500 or so apartments for rent in San Francisco in July 2000, the heart of the dot-com boom when tenants-to-be had to take whatever they could get and were lucky if their applications would even be considered without a plate of brownies or some cold hard cash clipped to the back. Today there are upwards of 8,000 apartments available — in San Francisco alone. Oh how the tables have turned.
Last night Jen and I looked at a number of places — a loft in Potrero Hill (Tennessee and Mariposa), an apartment in Lower Pacific Heights (Post between Lyon and Baker), and our favorite, a 2-bedroom place in Katie’s building in Western Addition. The asking rent is $1,595. Today I offered $1,300. I got a call back saying the agent would check with the owner, but she didn’t think he’d go that low. I said I would be willing to meet “somewhere in the middle” and to see how low he’d be willing to go. Not 10 minutes later, I got another call: Suddenly, someone was interested in the apartment right now for $1,550. She’d much rather work with a referral, though, so would we be interested for $1,500. I told her I’d consult my fiance and let her know.
Curious that after more than 2 months of being vacant, there is suddenly someone interested at this very moment. We shall see…
This weekend Jen and I hope to look at some more places.
1 response so far ↓
1 Peter A_nderson // Jan 8, 2003 at 10:36 am
Just a word of caution – the Western Addition is probbaly a lot higher risk than many other neighborhoods in The City. I lived at Fillmore and Fell one summer, and things were sketchy. The pad in Lower Pacific Heights sounds much more appealing…..Love…..Dad