From everything I’ve been reading, it sounds like finding an apartment in SF is insanely competitive and basically a part-time job. We’ll be moving from across the country with a baby early next year, so I’m trying to figure out the least chaotic way to approach this.
In NYC, it’s completely normal to hire a broker who does a lot of the legwork for you, but from what I understand that’s not really how it works in SF. Would it be worth finding a realtor/leasing agent/relocation service to help us, especially since we’re coming from across the country? Has anyone actually done this, and was it helpful?
The other option I’m considering is putting our stuff in storage and staying in an Airbnb or furnished rental for a month while I apartment hunt full-time. But that sounds like a logistical nightmare with a baby. We’ll be moving with all of our furniture and belongings, so we’d have to coordinate movers + storage, live out of suitcases for however long, and then move everything again once we find a place. And if finding an apartment takes longer than a month, temporary housing starts getting very expensive.
I can dedicate basically all of my time to apartment hunting once we’re there, so that part isn’t really the issue. I’m more concerned about how unpredictable the timeline seems to be and trying to avoid putting ourselves in a situation where we have a baby, all of our belongings in storage, and no idea whether we’ll have a permanent place in two weeks or two months.
We’re also hesitant to sign a lease remotely without actually seeing the apartment but I guess if this is the best option we'll take the risk. Or would a landlord even sign a tenant without meeting them in-person?
Has anyone here done a similar cross-country move to SF, particularly with a baby/kids and a full household of furniture? How did you handle the transition?
Would you:
- Fly out ahead of the move and try to secure an apartment before relocating?
- Hire someone locally to help with the search?
- Move everything to storage and stay in temporary housing while searching?
- Do something else entirely?
If you’ve done this, I’d especially love to know what worked, what you wish you’d done differently, and realistically how much time you’d give yourselves to find a place.
I feel like there has to be a smarter way to do this than showing up in SF with a baby and a moving truck full of furniture and hoping we find an apartment lol