Finding a family rental near Berkeley

Hi, we are in the process of moving as well. I found that apps were super helpful. I checked Zumper, Hot Pads, Padmapper, Trulia Rentals and Zillow Rentals on a daily basis and the house we ended up renting was found via Padmapper. There is Craigslist as well but you have to be careful about all the scams out there. I would not pay a deposit until you are signing the actual lease. Good luck!  

I recently created a Craigslist alert so that I could monitor the rental market. I created it about three months prior to needing the rental. It was useful in assessing inventory for my price/location and affirmed that there would be plenty of options. My needs were different than yours, so you may want to do the same now to get a sense of inventory based on location/budget/3br/etc. Good luck!

Hello! Having recently rented in Albany, there are not many available houses in the market. If you see one advertised, it may have 4-5 offers. 
I would suggest start looking sufficiently in advance and be ready to pay above asking price to have an edge. 
best of luck. 

My experience is outdated, but my best tip is to have EVERYTHING ready to go when you first see a house.  We showed up at open houses with a rental resume (previous addresses, rent paid, reason for moving, landlord phone number; income, credit score, etc) and, on the back, a sheet about our dog (description, vet, how we get her exercise, etc).  We also got free credit checks at annualcreditreport.com, and had copies of that printed out and ready to go. In the Bay Area, having a packet like this was totally standard.  (When I moved out of state all the landlords were kind of agog.) We looked on craigslist, but I don't know what the current best situation is -- CL has a lot of scams, as does FB marketplace, so just keep an eye out.  

I also highly recommend asking around among friends and neighbors and neighborhood groups in the areas where you'd like to rent.  

Good luck!

My husband and I moved December 2021 when I was in my second trimester, we were both working from home, and we realized we really needed more space.  We started looking in September.  We were looking in North Berkeley, and only saw 2 potential listings (more than 2 bedrooms).  One was a very highly trafficked rental (decent upkeep, but worn.  No money spent on the house except the bare minimum; e.g., electrical upgrades, grounded outlets only in kitchen and bathrooms, windows that don't open, old carpeting, etc.).  The other listing was great, but we were lucky to get it and we're paying quite a bit; it had at least 3 other offers/folks interested.  If you're looking further up into Kensington and El Cerrito, you may have more luck just finding houses that are available (especially this time of year).  Unless something has changed in a BIG way, it's still an owner's market (when is it not, given the housing shortage?).  Be prepared with everything you need - references, credit reports, check for deposit.  If you like the place and don't immediately put in a deposit, chances are it will be gone the next day.

Also be prepared that you may not be able to negotiate anything - i.e., if you want something cleaned, repaired or changed, there is quite possibly another renter who will not ask.  We're lucky to be renting directly from the owner and not through a management company, so we haven't had any problems.  Trust your gut.  If it's not in writing, you probably won't get it.  Ask yourself if it's worth the tradeoff.

We checked Craigslist and Trulia.  The Craigslist scams are pretty easy to identify; anything with the wrong address, with photos from another post, asking for money without a tour and signed lease, etc.  If you see something you like, you need to act same day.