[lubujackson]

Because of San Francisco's unique laws, you can sometimes get a much better deal coming in as a new roommate to an existing lease than you might expect. So if rents are running $5000-6000 for a 3 bedroom, someone in an older building with a lease started 5 years ago might be paying $3000 for a comparable unit. As you can imagine, those deals are harder to find but they are not uncommon.