How to Get Housing in Berkeley

[rajlego]

2025 Update:

There’s now an airtable form you can submit to at https://​​h.raj.quest that I then forward to Berkeley grouphouse managers—they can then reach out to you if they have availability for your dates.

Staying with EA’s

Short-Term Housing

• Ask me if I know any local availabilities

  • have a low bar to asking

• East Bay EA/​Rationality Housing Board Facebook Group is a good place to ask if anyone has rooms/​couches open

• Non-Linear’s EA Houses project is the EA equivalent of couchsurfing

  • You can find a spreadsheet with Bay Area options here

Long-term EA Housing

Options:

• East Bay EA/​Rationality Housing Board Facebook Group often has vacancies posted

• Again, ask me if I know any openings

  • have a low bar to asking

Non-EA Housing

Short-Term Housing

• Airbnb

  • expensive

• Hotels

  • even more expensive :(

• Facebook often has people looking to do short-term sublets, usually posted in groups like

  • Bay Area Conscious Community Housing Board

  • Berkeley Housing Group

  • UC Berkeley Off-Campus Housing

Long-Term Housing

• Zillow

  • Pretty standard housing search app

• Apartments.com

  • Pretty standard housing search app

• Craigslist

  • Can be a little sketchier than other apps but is how I found my current 8 bedroom house

• Facebook groups also have people looking to have their lease taken over/​fill up vacancies in grouphouses

  • Bay Area Conscious Community Housing Board

  • Berkeley Housing Group

  • UC Berkeley Off-Campus Housing

To Add:

• Calibrations on general Berkeley rent cost

• Recommended areas of Berkeley to stay in

[TerracottaKleinBottle]

Thanks for linking the Conscious Housing Board! It’s an unfortunate time for me to find this article (new to the Bay, just signed a lease with a few people in SF), but I’ll keep it in mind for the next time I’m moving and bookmark this article to share with others.