I lived in SF for a few years and I'm about to go back after dealing with some family nonsense, so I've given this some thought.

There is huge variability in the SF housing market and great deals tend to go quick. I'd put my stuff in storage and stay at a long term hotel for a few weeks and be really careful about this, after all you're talking about spending 12-20K a year.

You can get a decent hotel around the airport for like $60 on hotwire, which is really pretty cheap for SF.

http://www.housingmaps.com/ This is useful.

>despite in-depth emails Too long and you'll get no response just like any other CL ad?

One random note : some places require a social security card.