Maybe the title of this post should be “Cheaper Rent…” After all, San Francisco, as you know, is not a cheap place. And the #1 expense for most folks is rent – that huge chunk of change you fork over every month to the person (or faceless corporation) that owns the building you live in. (Hell, even if you”own” your place, it's the bank that really calls the shots — and they won't even fix your toilet if it backs up!)
We Cheap Bastards used to think that the only solution to the problem was the coming Big One. Surely, that would create some vacancies, driving the rents down where we can afford them. But it turns out that the bottom dropping out the economy did the trick just as nicely.
According to that not-exactly-tenant-friendly local rag The Examiner, median rental prices are continuing their downward march since August 2008. Check out their table of the rents:
| Month | Median rental rate* |
|---|---|
| August 2008 | $2,228 |
| October 2008 | $2,293 |
| December 2008 | $2,142 |
| February 2009 | $2,077 |
| April 2009 | $2,000 |
| June 2009 | $1,902 |
| * Relates to asking price, which is often higher than actual price | |
Get one of these places, grab a few roommates, and party like it's 1994!
What are your techniques for finding cheap rents in the City? Is it who you know? How many roomies you can conjure?
Spill the dirt in the comments!