Temporary Housing Options

You may need a short-term place to stay when you first arrive in Berkeley. Listed below are some
options for temporary housing in or near the Berkeley area.

Cal Rentals

Cal Rentals has listings of local rentals, both short and long-term, and is available to students, faculty, staff and visiting scholars. Incoming visiting scholars can have access to this listing when they have an approved appointment from our office (Visiting Scholar and Postdoc Affairs Program). If your appointment has already begun and you have a CalNet ID, you can register by going to the following link and then pressing "Sign Up" under "UCB Students, Faculty and Staff." When you register, you should list your affiliation as "Faculty/Staff" : https://och.berkeley.edu/registration

• If you are an incoming affiliate and do not yet have your CalNet ID, go to the following link to register and select "Guest Type" as "Incoming Faculty/Staff": https://och.berkeley.edu/registration/guest
• After registering, you will then be asked to provide proof of affiliation. To verify your affiliation, send an email to calrentals@berkeley.edu with your appointment dates, your affiliation (postdoc, visiting scholar, visiting student researcher), and a copy of your VSPA appointment letter that is automatically generated when your appointment has been approved by VSPA. 
• Once your affiliation has been verified, you will be able to access Cal Rentals and browse its listings. 

The Cal Rentals website has compiled useful information under a tab titled "Resources" that covers topics such as "Rental Housing Safety" to "When to Look". 

Intersection Apartments (Single Postdocs & UCB Graduate Students Only)

Cal Housing has a furnished housing option at the Intersection Apartments, an independent-living option for single graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Located in Emeryville not far from the Bay, the building is only three miles from the UC Berkeley campus (about a 15-minute drive or 30-minute bus ride on AC Transit bus line Transbay F). Apply now via the Cal Housing portal.

VSPA Postdocnet Listserv

Our office also maintains an exclusive mailing list (it is called the postdocnet listserv, but visiting scholars and landlords also subscribe to this list). Subscribers often post ads like furniture for sale, housemates wanted, or room/apartment/sublets available. You can subscribe by going to this link here. After subscribing to the listserv, you can receive postings from members that include landlords or send postings by simply emailing an announcement to postdocnet@lists.berkeley.edu

Home Match

The UC Berkeley Retirement Center partners with Home Match  Front Porch, a local non-profit, to coordinate matching homeowners (many are UC retirees) and home seekers living in Alameda, San Francisco, Marin counties and Contra Costa counties. Learn more about how it works and see listings in different counties. Here are current listings in Alameda County.

Berkeley Rep

The Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley Rep) is pleased to share that their new Medak Center rental property will be available to UC Berkeley Postdocs, Visiting Scholars, and Visiting Student Researchers who need affordable short-term housing while they seek permanent housing while in Berkeley. The property is meant to house their visiting artists but when they have availability, you may access their studio apartments at non-profit rates. Send an email directly to rentals@berkeleyrep.org for more information and set up a tour.

Craigslist Bay Area

This is a public listing site from people all over the Bay Area. It is widely used by landlords and property managers to advertise both short and long term rental vacancies in and near Berkeley. Individuals also advertise furniture, household goods, and many other items they want to sell or give away. Please be aware that this is not a university-affiliated resource and to be wary of any scams. 
Craigslist Bay Area

Zillow

This is a public listing site similar to Craigslist but it's only for housing -- both for long and short term rentals and also homes for sale. Please be aware that this is not a university-affiliated resource and to be wary of any scams, although Zillow does a fairly good job of vetting the people who advertise rentals.
Zillow Berkeley (Hint: to select rentals in communities in addition to Berkeley, select "Remove Boundary" on the map.)

Sabbatical Homes

SabbaticalHomes.com is the go-to resource for visiting academics to see furnished rental advertisements near academic institutions world-wide. Here you will find the homes of UC Berkeley faculty who are going on sabbatical leave and other professionals who seek to rent to like-minded people coming to Berkeley to teach or do research. The typical rental is for a semester or an academic year, although many of the rental listings are for flexible periods.

Airbnb

Airbnb connects people who have spare rooms, entire apartments, or entire single-family homes with those who are looking for a place to stay and is particularly useful for in need of short-term housing accommodations. Some properties may be available for longer periods; to explore, set your ideal date parameters to see what, if any, rentals might be offered for the length of your stay. 

VRBO

VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) offers furnished rooms, entire apartments, and single-family dwellings in and near Berkeley for a variety of price points and lengths of stay.