<p>How do most people go about it? When is the best time to start?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Now.</p>
<p>10char</p>
<p>No. Start at spring break. Right now the landlords are asking the tenants are if they’re interested remaining or moving out since most contracts are from May - May or August - August. You won’t find many apartments if you search right now.</p>
<p>Now is a good time to browse around and know what geographic area you’d like to live in. If you want to live in those buildings 1 block from campus you should add yourself to the waiting list now (eg El Granada and the building above Smart Alec’s).</p>
<p>Right now a lot of units are also available for pre-rent/reserve for the summer. You can view the unit and submit an application/deposit to reserve the unit for a later lease starting in May/June. Of course if you reserve now you can’t bail out on the unit if you see something else you like.</p>
<p>As a tenant and resident manager for a Northside building 1 block to campus I will say that the market is already picking up. We initially had 5 studios available for pre-rent just 3 weeks ago - all of them have been rented out except one. North Berkeley Properties already has many other buildings Southside that are available for pre-rent ([North</a> Berkeley Properties: Units](<a href=“http://northberkeleyproperties.com/rent/page:1/area:downtown]North”>http://northberkeleyproperties.com/rent/page:1/area))</p>
<p>If you’re interested in a double on southside email isosoclese[at]gmail[dot]com
It’s about $900/mo btwn two people including internet and pge.</p>
<p>So Spring break is when May leases start becoming available?</p>
<p>Does anyone know of any other websites besides padmapper and craigslist to find available apartments? Thanks.</p>
<p>There’s apartments.com but padmapper already searches that. There isn’t any other place where people list apartments.</p>
<p>Thanks Liquidus.</p>
<p>What about websites like the one ethancc2 posted? I did a yellow pages search for Berkeley realty but was unsuccessful.</p>
<p>largest landlords in the berkeley area with websites:
[PREMIUM</a> PROPERTIES](<a href=“http://www.premiumpd.com/]PREMIUM”>http://www.premiumpd.com/)
berkeleyapt.com</p>
<p>individual apt buildings:
[Home[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“Diablo Holdings | Home”>http://www.diabloholdings.com/cambridge.html]Diablo</a> Holdings - The Cambridge Apartments](<a href=“http://www.granadabuilding.com/]Home[/url”>http://www.granadabuilding.com/)
[Stadium</a> Place & Allston Place - Berkeley, CA - Student Housing - University of California-Berkeley](<a href=“http://stadiumplace.info/]Stadium”>http://stadiumplace.info/)
[Library</a> Gardens - Berkeley Apartments - A new standard in urban living.](<a href=“http://www.librarygardens.com/]Library”>http://www.librarygardens.com/)</p>
<p>any rent controlled unit in berkeley can be looked up here if you have a street name & number: [Rent</a> Ceiling Database - City of Berkeley, CA](<a href=“http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent/rentsearch/search.asp]Rent”>http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent/rentsearch/search.asp)
tool crashes quite often… but you can see what the rent is for apartments
Note: any non-rent controlled unit won’t be listed. This is any building built after 1991 which includes library gardens, stadium place, allston lofts, and anything owned by Berkeley Apartments - in general I have only heard terrible things about most of these buildings. Newly constructed, but cheap building materials and expensive rents. Landlords have been heard of jacking up rents exorbitantly when you go to renew a lease.</p>
<p>Thanks so much ethancc2!</p>
<p>Can someone explain to me the difference between a studio and an actual room? Also, what’s the going-rate for a 1 room/1 bathroom place? TIA</p>
<p>Now’s a good time to get a feel for the market. However, if you’re seriously looking for a place, you won’t be doing anything until two to three weeks before move-in. Even then, it is often possible to find a place and move in within a couple days.</p>
<p>The whole idea of getting a feel for the market is so that you can snatch a good deal when you see one. It’s a really hot market, especially on south side, so you have to be able to decide quickly when the time comes. Have a good idea what you want and go for it.</p>
<p>The rates actually differ in different parts of Berkeley because of how pedestrian-oriented the campus is. So, the difference between places that are a 25min walk apart is about the same difference as places that are usually a 25min drive apart.</p>
<p>On southside, the going rate for a 1bd/1ba is ~$1500/mo. However, you can get a studio for ~$1100/mo. The difference is that 1bd has an actual bedroom (in addition to living room), whereas a studio is basically where your bedroom is your living room. It’s usually ~$150/mo cheaper on northside.</p>
<p>Certain parts of Northside can get pretty pricey though! My building rents out their exorbitant studios @ $1350/mo! A one bedroom is $1600/mo! The place next door to me (above La Val’s) has $1500 studios and $1800 one bedrooms. Look it up at the rent board ceiling database (1820 Euclid). 2523 Ridge (one block from N. Gate) also has $1800 one bedrooms [JD</a> Management Group, Inc.](<a href=“http://www.jdmginc.com/2523-ridge.html]JD”>http://www.jdmginc.com/2523-ridge.html) So, living super close to campus on Northside can be really expensive.</p>
<p>Why is it so expensive? The overall quality of housing on Northside is better than Southside - with exceptions. Landlords have to appeal to more families, grad students, and post-docs who are here for the long-term and look for nicer maintained buildings in quieter neighborhoods. These renters expect more and are willing to pay extra.</p>
<p>Yea, so studios basically have no living room. It has a living area which is the bedroom/living room combined together. Some studios have their kitchen as part of the living area while others actually have the kitchen in another separated room.</p>
<p>Watch out for landlords that advertise their studios as 1 bedrooms or their 1 bedrooms as 2 bedrooms, etc. A lot of shady landlords use the living room as another bedroom.</p>
<p>I know prices vary depending on quality, location, etc., but generally what price range do students look for /month? My roommate said about $500 is average, but I am doubtful. I always assumed it was around $750 to 900.</p>
<p>With $500, you are gonna live in a rather run-down place that needs a serious renovation. $600 ~ 900 sounds more reasonable with 1~2 roommates, a little more if you are willing to live by yourself.</p>
<p>$500 is what you’re looking at if you’re putting four people in a somewhat run-down 2bd/1ba in southside.</p>
<p>If you want nice, make that $600. If you want to have single rooms, make that $900.</p>