I'll let others/the Internet handle San Francisco rent specifics. I live there as well and know rent control, tenant rights and all of that make for interesting preparation.
As a former accidental landlord, though, I have a few pointers:
* Put a credit card on file with a plumber, HVAC company and locksmith and leave the phone numbers to these on the fridge for them. If your tenant needs these services, they can get them faster and more easily without involving you. These places will probably call you to approve the charges since you won't be there to sign on the dotted line. This simple act saved me SO many "furnace died" calls in the middle of the night.
* To the list of phone numbers you may wish to add the building/condo association management company, if there is one.
* I left extra light bulbs, air filters and things of that nature in the unit for new tenants. Those are all deductible.
* I did very detailed Craigslist posts and used the "list" HTML code a lot. Great photos and a coherent listing with proper spelling got me decent folks, but I got the best tenants from AcademicHomes.com.
* Get a tax accountant if you don't use one already. Things like HOAs become tax deductible when they normally aren't, and all sorts of fun things. This is even more helpful if you've split the tax year, i.e. occupied the property for part of the year and rented it for another part of the year.
* Insist that you be notified of roommates joining, just to know what's up and even if you don't add them to the lease. My primary tenant lost her job, got a roommate to help with rent, didn't tell me, and the new roommate turned out to be batshit crazy. My primary tenant called me from her mobile, locked in her bedroom, while the new roommate beat on her door with a hammer. Good times! I nearly had to have a sheriff remove her, but she fortunately had no legal right to be in the property since she wasn't in the lease. I think San Francisco is a bit different about what a tenant is and all of that, but good to know.