Zillow is the marketplace for real estate. You can search homes for sale and rent with several options such as price range, the number of rooms and baths, the type of home and size. If you have one in mind, you can contact a property manager via Zillow. I could figure out the price range per district before coming to San Francisco and plan my budget.
2. Zipcar (http://www.zipcar.com/)
Zipcar is the car sharing service. If you register your driving license on Zipcar, you can reserve a car close to your location by hours or day. Gas and insurance are already included to the rental cost. You can unlock the door with Zipcard or mobile application. As a fellow staying within a year, owning a car costs a lot but we sometimes need a car for shopping, traveling or working. Zipcar can be an alternative of car ownership.
3. Transit (https://transitapp.com/)
Transit is a transportation application to navigate your city’s public transit system in real-time. The data includes bus, metro and all public transportation with estimated arrival time. You can plan how to go to your destination and when to arrive there.
4. Detour (https://www.detour.com/)
If you visit some places by yourself, Detour application is the best travel mate. Detour is an audio tour guide. The narrator’s guide will be automatically changed based on GPS data. When I visited Castro in San Francisco, I could know the history of Castro and feel like walking with local friend.It was an amazing experience to enjoy San Francisco.
5. Venmo (https://venmo.com)
Venmo is a digital wallet that you can pay or request the payment to your friends. Anyone with Venmo account can send the money. Also you can transfer money from Venmo to your bank account linked to your account. When spliting the check after having meals with friends, it was very difficult to give and receive money. I was usually asked; Do you have a Venmo account? or Do you Venmo?. Venmo saves time and resources to send money. It is definitely a must-have application.
Smart applications make your life smart! Hope future fellows enjoy your new life and challenge. 🙂