$300 A Month Rent In San Francisco!
I went to a San Francisco Giants Game baseball game today and while walking from BART to the stadium, there were several harbors with a large number of sailboats docked there. My dad loves sailboats, so of course we had to go and take a closer look at some of the betters ones. That’s when I found a secret about how some people are getting the best rental rates in the San Francisco Bay Area (which can easily be duplicated in any city with high housing costs on a coast or by a large body of water).
Boat dock slips cost between $300 and $400 a month. There is a group of people who purchase sailboats (they run from $50,000 on up), dock them on the water in front of prime real estate often costing millions of dollars and pay rent of about $400 a month. Some don’t even pay rent or purchase the boat. They have traded upkeep on the boat to live there and then vacate for one weekend a month when the owner of the boat wants to take it out sailing.
This is a variation on the long term house sitting idea, but there are a lot more opportunities available. Of course, you have to be willing to live on a boat and that means a pretty minimalist lifestyle when it comes to “things,” but considering that San Francisco is least affordable rental metro area in the US and one bedrooms are renting for between $1000 and $1500, the price of a boat can’t be beat.
Much like the commute helper, this is another example of how a bit of creativity can go a long way to keeping a lot more money in your own pockets while living in a prime real estate location.
) apartments. Maybe a business opportunity for someone there but I’m thinking that the pull of the land would be far to great for most.
It’s not that easy actually. My family was looking into marina slips in Half Moon Bay and other places in the area and there is often a waiting list. This was at a time when 1 bedrooms were renting for $1700-2200 a month. If you actually own the boat, maintaining it can be an expensive pain. Some boats are really spacious, but lots of folks get tired of showering at their gym.
I guess if you rented from someone who did all the boat upkeep for you, then it could be worthwhile like you suggest, but I don’t know anyone who’s done it for more than a year or two. It’s more of a desperation maneuver to keep from having to leave altogether.