Affordable housing for summer internship (San Mateo, CA)?

January 10, 2014 12:50 PM

Need simple housing for two people during 12 week summer internship. How would you go about securing housing if you only have a week after school finishes before the internship begins? Difficulty factor: Internship is 2,000 miles away in San Mateo, CA. Apartments all seem to require 1-year lease. Do we center on San Mateo for a short bike or walk commute or look for more affordable places along the train or bus lines a distance away? What search strategies would you use? Employer does not provide assistance.
posted by tronec to Work & Money (10 answers total)

AirBnB, for sure. You can sort by whether you want a shared room, private room, or whole apartment, and you can choose how many people you want to bring with you, the dates, etc. AirBnB is often for short-term rentals (a few days or a week) but I have seen numerous summer sublets if you start looking early enough. The other option is Craigslist, but that in my experience is far more sketchy and far less accountable.
posted by ClaireBear at 12:52 PM on January 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Look for sublets on Craigslist. If your employer is located in downtown San Mateo you can expand your search a bit based on the Caltrain route.
posted by joan_holloway at 1:17 PM on January 10, 2014

Another vote for Airbnb. Be aware, though, that the area you're looking in is not particularly affordable at all.
posted by quince at 1:22 PM on January 10, 2014

You are going to be in an incredibly expensive area. How much will you have to spend?

Nearly all apartment complexes will have an option for month-to-month, it will just cost more.

San Francisco State University is pretty much in Daly City. With good access to public transportation on the N Judah line. They have housing available in the summer. Call the housing office and see if you might be able to get a room there. My sister lived in Verducci Hall back in the day and MAN! It's like Soviet Russia, but it was a place.

Look into sublets for the three months, or even house sitting for professors from SFSU or USF who might be going on an extended vacation.

You're going to have to get creative here.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:28 PM on January 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

What's your budget?

Also, I sent you a MefiMail.
posted by purpleclover at 1:29 PM on January 10, 2014

AirBnb. There are various places set up for this situation. Do a keyword search for 'hacker'.
posted by PercussivePaul at 2:11 PM on January 10, 2014

I would also see whether SF State has a housing office that might list summer sublets, like if students are listing their place while they go out of town for the summer.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:06 PM on January 10, 2014

There's plenty of short-term corporate housing in the bay area for interns. It's not cheap, but if you're getting paid for a tech internship, you'll be able to afford it.
posted by ch1x0r at 7:59 PM on January 10, 2014

Commuting to San Mateo from SF is going to take around an hour and you won't even be in a particularly fun or interesting part of the city. I'd only do that as a last resort.

I'd check on craigslist and be sure to also check in some of the other suburbs with Caltrain stations. Plan to spend an arm and a leg. But most sublets aren't going to be posted until closer to April or May.
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 8:59 PM on January 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

You know I was just up there last night and I withdraw my comment. SF State is way too far from San Mateo to be a source of likely convenient options. Matilda is right.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:16 AM on January 12, 2014