Hi!  So my question is what's the most affordable way to get a roof
over your head and still live in the Bay Area?

My situation is that I'm 26M workaholic entrepreneur.  I feel like I'm
never home.  I'm either working or with friends.  And right now I'm
paying $1000 a month to live in SE San Jose.  It's a pretty good deal
I guess compared to the rest of the market, but I cringe every time I
have to dip into savings to pay rent -- especially since I'm not
building any equity.  It's just the principle of the thing.

I'm pretty focused on my work and live a fairly minimalist lifestyle
since I'm trying to retire by 30.  To be honest, all I need is a clean
bed and a roof over my head.  Until I get married one of these days
and raise a family, I don't need a house.  They take too much time to
maintain in my opinion and in addition to that I don't see how they're
really all that sustainable or good for the enviornment -- at least
most of the houses I know of.  In fact none of it really makes sense
to me but whatever.

So do you know of anything that would suit me?  It sounds crazy, but
almost like an upscale hostel-like environment for young
professionals?

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 22 May 2006 09:26 PDT

Hello alexinca-ga,

I live in the Bay Area and would be happy to help you figure out your
housing options. Please tell me more about your situation. You said
you're paying $1000 per month for your housing and that you're dipping
into savings. Aside from rent, what else is important about your
living situation? Are you already working with others in setting up
your business or are you hoping to meet kindred spirits who will join
you? Do you have a college degree and from what college? Many new
companies come out of Stanford or Berkeley. What industry are you in?
For example: SOMA and the city are more focused on new media while the
peninsula and Alameda have bunches of biotech and related companies.

Where have you lived until now? What research have you done already
and what options have you eliminated? If money were no object, where
(what city) would you live? The Bay Area covers a lot of territory.
Are there areas you've eliminated and areas that you would prefer.

I'd love to help you but I don't want to duplicate research you've
already done on your own or offer you options that you've already
eliminated.

I look forward to your clarification.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by alexinca-ga on 23 May 2006 14:01 PDT

These are all good questions.  I appreciate your help!

To answer your questions: 1) the company on which I'm currently
working and founded processes rent payments and improves the tenants'
credit scores at the same time, among streamlining the entire renting
process so as to reduce the amount of time people put into relocating
by 80% -- I'm currently working with a couple of others and in the
process of selling it off to a larger company and right now I'm
currently writing a book on how this is going to revoluationize the
renting industry worldwide (I'm still keeping it a vague though until
everything is finalized), 2) I have a couple more classes to finish
over the Web from The University of Iowa (which I'm not excited about
but I'll get it done by the end of the year) -- but Iowa wasn't
conducive to my personality type, creativity or enthusiasm for
large-scale and socially conscious entrepreneurship in IT so I moved
out here to the Bay Area, 3) and if I could live anywhere I think it
would be San Francisco -- although to be honest I don't really care
where I end up.  Again, I think what I'm looking for is either a) just
a hostel-like environment for young professionals where I can just
have a roof over my head for as cheap as possible since I spend most
of my time not at home anyway ... and as long as I have my cell phone
and laptop I can work anywhere or or b) a co-op living environment
that attracts a wide diveristy of entrepreneurs, writers, researchers,
that sort of thing.  I know this typically would mean an academic
enviornment, and ideally I'd like to apply to the Stanford MBA program
in a few years but in the meantime I don't know where I could be
immersed in a sort of private non-academic based "residential college"
I suppose or if such places even exist outside of college campuses,
which leads me back to think that "a" is the most logical option.  Or
just stick with where I'm staying, pay the $1000/month for a room
(with access to the rest of the house), which is fine -- I've got
enough saved up from previous projects so it's not like I'm trying to
find another place out of desperation -- it's just, again,
frustrating.  I don't like seeing waste.

Does this help at all?

Hello again alexinca-ga,

I?m impressed with your ambitions and your life style preferences.
I?ve located a variety of housing possibilities that should help you
get your rent well under $1000.

I had no idea that the San Francisco Bay Area is a mecca for
cooperative housing. There are several that may be of interest to you.
Finding an apartment to rent by yourself is going to be tough, if not
impossible, in San Francisco. However, you should be able to find
something under $1000 on the Peninsula or in the South Bay. I
recommend that you review the craigslist postings daily. This is
probably the best place to find apartments and share rentals /
roommates. I?ve given you samples of both. In addition, I?ve also
listed some other sites that might be useful if the co-ops or
craigslist don?t work out.

I hope the resources I?ve found will help you to make a speedy move so
you can concentrate on your work and business plans.

Best wishes for success in all your endeavors.

~ czh ~

=============
CO-OP HOUSING
=============

http://housing.barringtoncollective.org/
San Francisco Bay Area Cooperative Housing Directory

I reviewed all of the Houses Listed and found that most of them did
not post sufficient information to be able to tell whether they might
be of interest to you. I found a few that looked interesting and I?ve
listed them below.


http://housing.barringtoncollective.org/Bonarium
Coop Name Bonarium 
Address bonar st. near bancroft 
Geographical area central west berkeley 

The Bonarium will be in search of easy-going, kind people to join our
home. The rooms available will be sometime between july 1st and july
15th The rents will be 420 for one and 463 for the other.

-----

http://housing.barringtoncollective.org/Etna%20House
Coop Name Etna House 
Geographical area Elmwood (Southeast Berkeley) 

Describe your co-op's themes.
Gourmet food, energy efficiency, growing/raising our own food. We try
to be non-dogmatic (except perhaps for energy usage). We're trying to
live "the good life", but with a much smaller negative impact on the
planet then most people -- we're not generally trying for absolute
minimum impacts.

-----

http://housing.barringtoncollective.org/Magic
Coop Name Magic
Geographical area Peninsula

http://www.ecomagic.org/about.html
Central to Magic is a residential learning community, where
participants hone abilities to question, reason, and experiment so
that they may effectively address fundamental issues critical to human
survival and satisfaction.

Magic, Inc.
381 Oxford Avenue,
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Post Office Box 15894,
Stanford, CA 94309
Phone: 650-323-7333
Fax: 650-323-4232
Contact Person: Hilary Hug (shown here)

-----

http://housing.barringtoncollective.org/Mariposa%20Grove
Coop Name Mariposa Grove
Geographical area North Oakland

http://www.healthyarts.com/mariposagrove/
A Cooperative Community in Oakland, CA
Contact Info: 
Linton Hale
c/o Mariposa Grove Housing Cooperative
828 59th St.
Oakland, CA 94706
510-655-5500
linton@healthyarts.com

-----

Coop Name San Mateo Ecovillage
Geographical area Peninsula

http://greensolutions.org/smcc/
San Mateo Ecovillage   
a San Francisco Bay area intentional community / urban retrofit
co-housing / mini-ecovillage
call us at (650) 574-7155

-----

Coop Name Synergy
Geographical area Stanford
Address: 550 San Juan, Stanford, CA 94305
Phone: 650-497-0251

What skills can residents of your co-op offer the community?
Humble Brilliance. 


======================================
SHARE RENTALS / ROOM MATES UNDER $1000
======================================

http://www.craigslist.org/roo/
s.f. bayarea craigslist > rooms & shares

There are lots of listings for under $1000 all over the Bay Area. You
can easily find something suitable for around $500. I recommend that
you review the listings yourself because the requirements and
personalities of the roommates will influence how you think about
them.

-------------------------------------------------

http://class.avenews.com/index.cfm?searchOnlineCategoryID=266&searchOnlineSectionID=2168
Homes: Shared Housing

Most of these are in the right price range. You will have to scroll
through the listings and evaluate whether any are worth pursuing.

-------------------------------------------------

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/housing
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/housing?keyword=&categoryId=6004
Roommates

This site offers an eclectic mix of roommate situations and apartment rentals.


===============================
APARTMENTS FOR RENT UNDER $1000
===============================

http://www.craigslist.org/apa/
s.f. bayarea craigslist > apartments for rent

Sample Apartment Rental Listings
--------------------------------

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164002978.html
$700 - studio (burlingame)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164044554.html
$775 - Studio with full bath and kitchen, downstairs with patio! (mountain view)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/164028155.html
$785 - Walk to All Conveniences-close to trans to Downtown & UCSF Campuses

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164072797.html
$795 - STUDIO WITH FULL BATH AND SEPARATE KITCHEN (mountain view)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164077516.html
$850 - Walk to Burlingame Ave and Caltrain! (burlingame)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164075770.html
$875 / 1br - Garden Setting! (mountain view)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/sby/apa/164070342.html
$875 / 1br - Studio Cottage (santa cruz)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164084964.html
$900 - San Mateo Detached Studio Cottage (san mateo)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164004703.html
$925 - FIRST MONTH FREE !!! (san mateo)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/sby/apa/163874636.html
$950 - Mountain Cottage on Skyline! (cupertino)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/sby/apa/164025575.html
$950 / 1br - spacious modern studio cottage (santa cruz)

-----

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/apa/164030132.html
$960 / 1br - Walk to Carlmont Village Shopping Center (belmont)

-------------------------------------------------

http://class.avenews.com/index.cfm?searchOnlineCategoryID=266&searchOnlineSectionID=2165
Homes: Rental Housing

There are some rentals for under $1000 but the listings are hard to
search. You?ll have to browse through them and see if anything seems
suitable.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.fogster.com/show_list.php?classification=809&display=short
Real Estate > Shared Housing/Rooms  

Most of these listings seem to be on the Peninsula and are within your price range.


=============
OTHER LISTING
=============

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/SOFElist/messages
3285 Hi my name is Glenn Horton, I'm the Founder and Director of Artists 
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/SOFElist/message/3285

We have a wonderful room with full gladd window facing in to the
wilderness. It is available for a single writer, composer, fine artist
or professional at our retreat- like redwoods home / location. Its a
four-bedroom home. There are five or six work spaces on the grounds...
a stream, couple of nice decks (including one by the stream)... etc.
it's quite nice for the right person who wants serenity and nature.

It's $800 per month... and only a few minutes from downtown Santa Cruz
and a few minutes the other way to Scotts Valley... It's available on
a month to month... and is available now. Three persons share the home
and its quiet and serene.

If the direct links don?t work you can get the contact information at
the following link. It will be available for 7 days at this address:

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=455A6AA765DC43C2



===============
SEARCH STRATEGY
===============

coop housing san Francisco
shared housing san Francisco

Thanks for your help!

Once heard of a guy wuo was so focused on work he lived in the attic
of the place he worked.

Do you own/rent the building where you work?:  :)

Rent a room rather than a whole apartment.

http://www.craigslist.org/sby/roo/

I've seen the same in the UK

Quite a large place above an Indian restaurant, in a high rent area.

Well kitted out - much like a reasonable hotel bedroom. Made me
suspect that he owned the adjacent buildings and rented out the ground
floor. A long corridoor.

Since you have an entrepreneurial streak, start one.

You might be onto something

These are all good questions.  I appreciate your help!

To answer your questions: 1) the company on which I'm currently
working and founded processes rent payments and improves the tenants'
credit scores at the same time, among streamlining the entire renting
process so as to reduce the amount of time people put into relocating
by 80% -- I'm currently working with a couple of others and in the
process of selling it off to a larger company and right now I'm
currently writing a book on how this is going to revoluationize the
renting industry worldwide (I'm still keeping it a vague though until
everything is finalized), 2) I have a couple more classes to finish
over the Web from The University of Iowa (which I'm not excited about
but I'll get it done by the end of the year) -- but Iowa wasn't
conducive to my personality type, creativity or enthusiasm for
large-scale and socially conscious entrepreneurship in IT so I moved
out here to the Bay Area, 3) and if I could live anywhere I think it
would be San Francisco -- although to be honest I don't really care
where I end up.  Again, I think what I'm looking for is either a) just
a hostel-like environment for young professionals where I can just
have a roof over my head for as cheap as possible since I spend most
of my time not at home anyway ... and as long as I have my cell phone
and laptop I can work anywhere or or b) a co-op living environment
that attracts a wide diveristy of entrepreneurs, writers, researchers,
that sort of thing.  I know this typically would mean an academic
enviornment, and ideally I'd like to apply to the Stanford MBA program
in a few years but in the meantime I don't know where I could be
immersed in a sort of private non-academic based "residential college"
I suppose or if such places even exist outside of college campuses,
which leads me back to think that "a" is the most logical option.  Or
just stick with where I'm staying, pay the $1000/month for a room
(with access to the rest of the house), which is fine -- I've got
enough saved up from previous projects so it's not like I'm trying to
find another place out of desperation -- it's just, again,
frustrating.  I don't like seeing waste.

Does this help at all?