Hello! And welcome to the UC Berkeley Extension
International Programs information session
about finding housing during your stay with
us. Congratulations on your admission to one
of our International Programs for the upcoming
semester!
Let’s begin by introducing ourselves. My
name is Ziva Shachar and I am Kevin Guzman,
and we are your International Student Advisors
and Designated School Officials. As part of
International Student Services, we are here
to assist you on finding housing during your
studies here at UC Berkeley.
If you have any questions during this presentation,
go ahead and send them in; we’ll do our
best to answer your questions as we go through
the presentation.
From our experience, we know that housing
is usually one of the first things students
think about when planning to study abroad
in the U.S. We hope this presentation will
help you get an idea of what is available;
what you might be looking for; and where to
begin your search. Housing can be very competitive
in the Bay Area and we know this may seem
stressful, but don’t worry! We are here
to help make your housing search as smooth
as possible!
As part of the International Student Services
team, we also help you with your visa status;
preparing and issuing your visa documents;
and pairing you with your Academic Advisors
to make sure you have an excellent experience
during your stay in the U.S.
We also help students with a variety of other
issues such as navigating American health
insurance; providing resources for your housing
search; and helping you adjust to American
culture.
These are some of the resources we provide
and we’ll be offering webinars on these
topics in the coming weeks and we hope that
you all will tune in for those presentations
as well! If you haven’t already registered
for those, please check your email to find
out how to register.
So let’s get started on why you’re tuning
in today -- finding housing!
In case you didn’t know or if you haven’t
yet done any research, UC Berkeley is located
in the City of Berkeley and in the San Francisco
Bay Area. The city is in the East Bay which
is a 30-minute subway ride from San Francisco
and a 1-hour drive north from the Silicon
Valley from which companies such as Google,
Apple, and Facebook all operate. To the north,
we are also just an hour away from Napa Valley
and its world-renowned wineries.
To the east lies our state capitol, Sacramento,
which is only a 2-hour drive away, as well
as Lake Tahoe, an amazing freshwater lake
located in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Tahoe
is known worldwide for its ski resorts and
its 22-mile blue lake. Now I don’t mean
to disappoint you, but keep in mind that because
of our location in Northern California, don’t
expect to find sunny or warm beaches! However,
if you would like a quick trip for some sun
and warmth, Los Angeles and San Diego, in
Southern California, are just a 1-hour flight
away or a 6-hour drive by car.
Zooming in closer to Berkeley, we can take
a look at this map of the different Berkeley
neighborhoods. Each neighborhood is part of
the city of Berkeley, but has its own unique
atmosphere that may suit your needs and what
you are looking for.
The main UC Berkeley Extension building, where
our office & the ISS team is located as well
as some Extension courses, is in Downtown
Berkeley. When looking at housing in Downtown
Berkeley, there are many apartment buildings
that are aimed at UC Berkeley students. These
may be pricier because of the desirable location,
but it is very close to campus and everything
you need. Keep in mind this is a very busy
area with many restaurants, stores, and people
out at all hours.
Southside, Elmwood, and Rockridge are also
great neighborhoods for students. They are
near many shops and restaurants as well as
being close to campus. Elmwood especially,
is a nicer neighborhood with many great housing
options for students. Many housing opportunities
referenced on our website are located in these
neighborhoods. In addition, there are many
buses that run to and from campus, or it’s
a short bike ride.
North Berkeley and the Berkeley Hills are
typically more expensive and are populated
by homes for the wealthier families of Berkeley.
Students do not usually live in this area,
as there are not many housing opportunities;
however, do keep your eye out for single rooms
or garden studios. However, Northside, just
north of campus, does have a lot of student
housing and is where the Berkeley co-ops are
located (which we will talk more about later!)
West Berkeley is generally a quiet and family-oriented
area. These rental rates will most likely
be slightly lower as it is further from campus
and shopping. This would require you to find
transportation to and from class and we will
be going over transportation options later
in the presentation.
Lastly, not to be confused with Southside,
South Berkeley which lies on the border of
the City of Oakland is where you will typically
find your cheapest housing options. While
most areas are perfectly fine, we do want
to mention that there might be some areas
where safety, particularly at night, might
be a concern. We recommend that you do a lot
of research before committing to living in
this neighborhood. It is also further away
from campus as well.
In addition to living in Berkeley, there are
several neighboring towns such as Albany and
El Cerrito to the north and Emeryville to
the south that are also very popular with
students; somewhat less expensive; and still
convenient via bus, bike or our metro system.
We know safety is very important to you and
so we want to discuss safety in Berkeley and
what you can do to stay safe. As we mentioned,
there are some neighborhoods that are more
safe than others, but the most common crimes
in this area are car break-ins and theft.
So the best way to stay safe is to be aware
of your surroundings, and don’t leave personal
items lying around. Try not to walk around
alone late at night. The same for any large
city. One other thing to keep in mind is street
lighting. You might want to ask the landlord
you are speaking to about street lighting
in the area around your apartment. In our
Life in Berkeley webinar, we’ll go into
more detail about safety in Berkeley but we
wanted to mention a few resources here that
might be relevant for your housing search
and ease any concerns you have.
UC Berkeley offers several safety services
and alerts that you can sign up for to keep
you safe. There are several night safety services,
such as Bearwalk, where you can call and a
community service officer will come walk you
home. There are also night safety shuttles,
and even door-to-door shuttle service available
from 3-6 AM. You can go to the night safety
link here to see the times, routes, and boundary
maps of these other services.
In addition, once you are here you can sign
up for Warnme and Nixle to get crime alerts
about anything happening around campus and
Berkeley. These send real-time alerts about
what is happening in your area.
Finally, when looking for housing, you can
use this crime-mapping website to see what
crimes have happened recently in the area.
We hope these resources will help you feel
more secure as you select your housing. In
our Life in Berkeley webinar and at orientation
we will give more detail about safety as well.
For those of you interested in finding housing
in the San Francisco area, let me provide
a brief overview of the city. Keep in mind
that depending on where your classes will
be located, you will need to take either our
subway system BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)
or a bus to get into Berkeley. Depending on
where you live, this could be a half-hour
to one and a half hour commute.
The top neighborhoods in which our students
have lived are the Marina, North Beach, the
Financial District, and the Mission. The Marina
is a common area for young professionals to
live. This is a lively area with many restaurants
and things to do; however, there is not a
BART station nearby, so this could make commuting
to and from school a little difficult. In
addition to the Marina, North Beach is quite
popular and a touristy neighborhood, but is
also limited with little to no access to BART
stations nearby. The Mission District is full
of many younger professionals or students.
It has a lot of culture and sense of community
and is near Bart stations, however parts of
it can feel unsafe at night. The Financial
District is more convenient to the UC Berkeley
San Francisco location (which is near Embarcadero
BART station) as well as the BART station
to ride into Berkeley. It is a very busy area
where many professionals work and live. One
new up-and-coming area is the Mission Bay
area, just south of the SOMA district, which
has been recently developed with lots of new
apartments and restaurants and is popular
with young tech professionals. It is not near
a BART station but has buses and light rail
and is a short bus ride from Embarcadero,
where our San Francisco campus is located.
The Bay Area is a huge place and we could
spend an entire webinar talking about the
different cities and neighborhoods. I recommend
you do some research online to learn more.
Websites such as thrillist.com and 7x7.com
have more details about the culture and features
of each neighborhood.
Now I will hand it off to Kevin to talk about
the different types of housing you can search
for.
Thanks, Ziva! Now, we would like to talk about
the different types of housing that are available;
what each option can offer you; and some things
to consider when making a decision on where
to live.
We’ll give a brief overview of: Student
Residences; Cooperative Housing also known
as Co-Ops; Shared Apartments; Studio apartments;
and homestays. Hopefully, you’ll have an
idea of which type of housing will best suit
you or at least give you new ideas about your
housing options.
First, we will start with our student residence
options.
If you are unfamiliar with what a student
residence is, then let me say that it is similar
to a dormitory and is typically located near
campus and is shared with other students.
Unfortunately, UC Berkeley Extension students
are not eligible to stay in the dorms directly
on UC Berkeley main campus; but, there are
many options that are next to campus in which
many domestic and international students enjoy
living.
Keep in mind that these residences are only
for students, so you will typically be living
with students whose ages range from 18-22.
One positive factor to consider is that you
will have the chance to meet and live with
other students. In a student residence, you
will most likely be paired with another student
in a shared bedroom. Also, it is unlikely
that you will have a private bedroom. Many
dorms offer a variety of social events and
activities throughout the year. There are
some dorms that offer meal plans, shared kitchens,
study lounges, and game rooms as well. We
recommend looking into student residences
if you are hoping to meet other students and
get the experience of “college dorm life.”
There are many student residence options in
Berkeley, but we will just go over a few shown
here. First, we have Hillside Village which
is about a 5-10 minute walk from both the
UC Berkeley Extension building and UC Berkeley
main campus. It is in the heart of downtown
surrounded by both students and professionals.
It offers studios and 1-3 bedrooms apartments
with a great view of the city from their rooftop
patio.
If you are looking to live closer to all of
the students, we recommend Telegraph Commons
on the Southside of campus. They offer a wide
selection of apartments aimed for the student
population. You will find lounge areas, kitchens,
as well as a study room. It is located just
2 blocks away from campus and next to a variety
of restaurants.
The Berk is a modern dorm with two locations
on the North and South sides of campus. Conveniently
located across the street from campus near
many coffee shops and restaurants, the Berk
offers a rooftop terrace; a game room; laundry
facilities; and study areas.
Other great options, which we have more information
about on the Housing section of our website,
are: Casa Cedar, Regent House, Kapi Residences,
and International House. However, International
House usually fills up over the summer, so
it can be hard to get a space there.
Now, let’s talk a little about Cooperative
Housing. This is slightly different from Student
Residences and dorms.
Cooperative Housing, also known as a “co-op”
is generally a large house or apartment for
local students. There are 15 different co-ops
located throughout Berkeley which are open
to Extension students, with different community
themes such as LGBTQ, Vegetarians, women-identified
only, etc. To be eligible you must provide
verification from your home university that
you are receiving credit toward your degree
for your program here at Berkeley.
These are shared quarters that range in size
from 17 to 150 residents and generally have
shared bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and
common areas. When living in a Co-op it is
required that you contribute about five hours
a week toward a chore for which you are responsible,
such as gardening, cooking, cleaning, or recycling.
These are a great option for meeting many
different types of people. It also is a cheaper
option when compared to other student housing
options such as living in a dorm or an apartment.
However, it is communal living, you have little
privacy, and it’s sometimes not the cleanest.
You meet a lot of people and build a strong
community, but it is not for everyone. The
co-ops are a great option if you want to have
a very “Berkeley” experience and really
immerse yourself in Berkeley culture, and
you like being around people a lot and not
having too much privacy.
If you are studying here in the spring, you
should apply to live in a co-op by October.
For Fall semester, you should apply in January
or February for the best chances. You can
go to bsc.coop to learn about the different
houses.
Next we will go into apartments and studios
in the area.
In case you didn’t know, a studio is a single
room with a small kitchen and a separate bathroom.
These are typically pricier than a shared
apartment.
The great part about living in an apartment
is that you have the ability to choose your
own roommates or even connect with other international
students with whom to find an apartment. Here
are some things to be aware of when finding
a place to rent:
1) You will be signing a lease so make sure
you read through this carefully as it is a
legally binding contract
2) Check with the apartment manager/leaser
if you need to set up separate gas & electric
and internet accounts or whether they are
already included in the rent
3) You will need to pay your rent/utility
bills each month. This is important to keep
in mind when choosing roommates. You do not
want to be in a situation where your roommate
is not paying their portion of the rent
4) Your apartment’s location and how far
away it is from campus. Research what forms
of transportation would be best to use to
get to and from school, grocery stores, malls,
etc. We will be going over transportation
options in later slides!
And just a quick tip - it is common for students
to share a bedroom in their apartments. This
cuts down their rent cost significantly. This
is definitely an option if you are open to
sharing your space and would like to save
money.
Living in the Bay Area can be very expensive
and it’s important to understand the typical
costs and adjust your expectations and budget.
The average estimated costs here reflect single-occupant
apartments and studios. If these figures seem
a little out of your price range, you may
want to consider some of the cost-cutting
tips and options we have reviewed today, such
as sharing a room with one or two other people.
As you can see, a studio in the Bay Area can
range from $1,600 in Oakland to more than
$3,000 in San Francisco. A one bedroom apartment
ranges from $2,300 in Berkeley to over $3,000
in San Francisco.
In general, a reasonable budget would be around
$1000 a person to share a room with one or
two other people in a student residence or
share a room in an apartment with multiple
shared rooms. For a furnished apartment, with
utilities included, it will likely be a few
hundred dollars higher. In addition, the closer
to the beginning of the school year it is,
the less places are available, and the more
expensive it will be. Start looking early
to get the better deals.
One item I would like to note is that some
student dormitory options may offer 1 semester
or a year long lease agreements. One thing
to keep in mind is if the property only offers
a one year lease agreement is that you can
typically find other students that will arrive
the following semester to take over your lease.
You could also take over previous student’s
leases from students who are leaving from
the previous term. You can find these options
on our Facebook Housing page, other housing
Facebook pages, or Craigslist.com.
However, it is important to remember when
signing a lease that it is a binding contract.
Never sign a lease unless you are sure this
is the housing to which you want to commit.
Here are a few apartment options where many
of our students have lived:
1) Stonefire Apartments is located directly
across the street from our office at UC Berkeley
Extension. It is also only 2 blocks away from
the main campus and includes a fitness facility
and even has views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
2) Trinity Apartments has multiple locations
around San Francisco. For example, this photo
displayed is located in Russian Hill with
easy access to public transportation. It is
next to many tourist attractions, restaurants,
and shops as well.
3) Kapi Residences offer fully furnished rooms
and convenient leases that meet your student
needs. They lease apartments in buildings
all over Berkeley and sub-lease by bed, so
you are not responsible for finding roommates
or ensuring other students pay their rent.
Similar companies are Academic Housing Rentals
and Equity Residential.
If you would like more information regarding
these places, please visit the Extension website
and review the different options we have linked
there. Please note that these are just a few
of the many options we recommend. There, you
will see some other options, such as Unique
Housing and Grant Street Apartments which
are all great buildings where students have
lived in the past.
Now, let’s move on to Homestays.
A homestay is an arranged living situation
where students stay for a semester or year
with a local family and have the opportunity
to immerse themselves in US culture, as well
as form relationships with a local family.
Homestays are a great opportunity to learn
more about what it is really like to live
in the United States, and specifically the
Bay area. Many students also like to live
in homestays to improve their English language
skills and it allows students to develop lasting
connections with their American host family;
however, when considering a homestay, remember
that you will be living in another family’s
home which means you are expected to respect
that family’s household rules.
To find a homestay family, we recommend using
companies such as Universal Housing or Andretto
Solutions. Additionally, Home Stay Match.com
is a great way to match yourself with a family
in the area with your preferences. The website
is easy to use and can be used to search for
short and long term stays. Now I’ll turn
it back over to Ziva who will talk about transportation
in Berkeley.
Thanks Kevin ! Okay, now that we have given
an overview of the many types of housing options
in Berkeley and the Bay area, it is important
to know what types of transportation are available
to you and how you will be getting to class
and around town.
1) AC transit is an extensive local bus system
the East Bay and students will have unlimited
access to this service once you receive your
Cal1Card.
2) Bear Transit is a free transit system for
UC Berkeley students who have a Cal1Card.
The Bear Transit services run through and
around the perimeter of campus.
3) Throughout Berkeley, you will see Ford
Go Bikes. This is a public bike-sharing system
that is used to go from one place and park
it in another area. You can pay to become
a member or pay per ride. Or you can purchase
a used bike on Craigslist or at the UCPD bicycle
auction which happens each Fall.
4) Bay Area Rapid Transit, also known as BART.
You may also know this as the metro or subway.
This is one of the most common forms of transportation
Bay Area locals use. There are lines all throughout
the Bay area to get you to almost any location.
Take a look at their website for the maps
and lines to see what stations are in the
neighborhood.
While searching for housing throughout various
websites, you may come across apartment postings
that may seem fishy or false. Unfortunately,
it is common to find postings that are fake
advertisements, where people are just trying
to scam you into giving them large amounts
of money.
So it’s important to be aware of housing
scams and know how to spot them. For example,
if the price and location seem “too good
to be true,” then it probably is. If they
refuse to show you the apartment or are rushing
you into sending them money, it’s probably
best to stay away. Also, if they ask for any
personal information like your passport number
or credit card number, these are likely to
be fake.
If you are unsure if an apartment advertisement
is real or not, you are welcome to send the
posting to our UC Berkeley Extension housing
email, housing-unex@berkeley.edu. This is
provided on our website and listed at the
end of this presentation.
If you are scammed, please make sure to call
your bank immediately if you have sent any
money and report it to the authorities as
well as our office. In our next slide, Kevin
will review a common housing scam you might
find in your housing search.
Just to have a visual, here is an example
of a common housing scam. Here the posting
says “due to their job in Alabama, they
are not in the area and will not be for three
years.” Immediately, this should be a red
flag and right away you should stay away from
this kind of advertisement.
As they are describing the property—in this
example, listing how large the place is—it
seems too good to be true, especially for
the $1,100 price for which they are offering
it. In the third paragraph, it also states
that this person cannot show the property
since he is in Alabama, but says you will
need to just peek through the window. Right
away, this should sound like a very fishy
ad and you should avoid this ad altogether.
They should always be able to show you the
property before you move in and they should
never be mailing the keys to you.
In addition to the many misspelled words and
poor grammar, this is a textbook example of
a housing scam and I can personally say that
I have seen ads like these before; but, so
long as you are aware of the warning signs
of a scam, you can make sure that your housing
search is a safe and pleasant experience.
If you are unsure if you are dealing with
a scam, please send us an email at housing-unex@berkeley.edu.
As we wrap up our presentation, I would like
to give you some great resources to begin
your search. We recommend exploring our UCB
Extension Housing website. Here, you will
have an overview of everything we discussed
today and links to more housing companies
students have stayed with in the past.
Also check out the Facebook Marketplace feature
to see housing postings, find roommates, or
find open rooms. Feel free to add yourself
to these various Facebook groups. Also, the
“UC Berkeley Extension International Housing
Forum” Facebook page is specifically geared
towards International students in our programs.
This is a great opportunity to start connecting
with students you will be studying with and
potentially have as roommates. The other pages
listed are other groups for the people searching
for housing within the Berkeley/Bay Area.
We also highly suggest searching though Apartments.com;
Calrentals (which is a UC Berkeley site for
housing opportunities, requires you to have
a Calnet ID to search); Zillow.com, and Craigslist.com.
These sites allow you to search for rentals
and search by price range, location, and housing
types.
Thanks so much for your time and I hope you
all learned some valuable information on finding
housing in the Bay Area
Thank you for submitting your questions, many
of which we’ve been able to answer during
the presentation. Here are a few more that
have come in.
Let’s start with this one: will my classes
be in Berkeley or San Francisco? Is it okay
to live in San Francisco and take classes
in Berkeley? That’s a great question. Courses
on the main campus, such as those in our Global
Access Programs or concurrent enrollment,
will be in Berkeley. For our Immersives & Professional
Diploma Programs, you student advisor can
tell you whether your courses will be in San
Francisco or Berkeley. If your classes will
be in Berkeley, we recommend living in Berkeley,
or very close to a BART station, meaning less
than a 10 minute walk. Otherwise, commute
times from San Francisco to Berkeley can be
30 minutes to an hour and a half, depending
on where in the city you live. Also, living
in the “student neighborhoods” in Berkeley
makes it easier to attend student organizations
and events in the evenings and get to know
fellow students.
Here’s a question we’re often asked: do
I really need to share a room with one or
two other people? That is a standard affordable
option in the Bay Area, which is one of the
most expensive places to live in the country.
Single rooms or studio apartments are available,
but as we said, they will range from $1300-1500/month
for a single room in a student residence or
shared apartment, to $1800-$2000/month for
a studio apartment. That being said, if that
is within your budget then go for it!
We have time for just a couple more questions:
what if I am staying for only 1 semester but
I have to sign a year long lease? Excellent
question. Before signing, ask the landlord
about their sublease policy and penalties
for breaking the lease. Subleasing means that
you find someone else to live there for the
second semester, and they pay you the rent,
which you then pay to the landlord. Breaking
the lease means breaking the lease contract
and leaving before the end of the lease, which
is sometimes an option with a monetary penalty
(ranging from a few thousand dollars to the
whole remaining rent). This should be a last
resort as it can be very expensive.
For our last question, we have this one here:
how do I see the room if I am still in my
home country? There are a few ways to go about
this. If you know a friend or family friend
in the area, you can arrange with the landlord
to have your friend view the place in person
and take photos or video, or live video-chat
you, during the tour. If you do not know anyone
in the area, you can ask to set up a video
tour directly with the landlord, and they
can give you a virtual tour via live video
chat. If you are looking at one of the companies
listed on our housing website then they are
familiar with working with our short-term
international students, and should be able
to provide detailed photos or even put you
in touch with current residents to see how
they feel about the housing accommodations
there. You can also ask on our housing facebook
group if anyone has lived in the building
you are looking at and their opinions about
it.
Thank you all for attending the Housing webinar.
We have been typing answers to questions throughout
the webinar. We will stay a few minutes after
the webinar ends to make sure we answer all
questions.
Please keep in mind if you would like to review
this information, we will be sending the recording
of this webinar to you very soon.
We hope this was helpful in your housing search.
Again, if you have any further questions or
concerns, please reach out to us by emailing
housing-unex@berkeley.edu or feel free to
call our office.
When sending us an email, please remember
to include your Extension ID number so that
we can pull up your information quickly and
provide you with an answer faster.
Once you arrive in the United States, feel
free to visit our office anytime!
Thank you for watching our webinar on housing
and we look forward to seeing you in Berkeley!
Have a great day.
