Hoping to Relocate to the Bay Area (San Jose, Sunnyvale: apartment, rentals)

[mdurkin]

Hi there!
My husband (an IT professional) and I (a teacher) are hoping to relocate from the suburbs of Chicago to the Bay Area of California within the next 6 months. We have so many questions that I am not sure where to begin! I will just focus this thread on a couple of important questions to hopefully get a conversation going...

1. Does anyone have any insight on how a teacher who doesn't have any CA certifications would go about applying to work in CA schools? I have two Illinois certificates; however, they are not helping me at all with the CA application process.

2. What suburbs do you recommend within the Bay Area? We are looking to start out by renting (maybe $1500 to $2000 per month) & then hope to buy a home. We would like to be within 5-10 miles of shopping & entertainment. Good schools are also important as we hope to start a family soon.

Any information that you can provide, would be truly helpful and much appreciated!
Many thanks!!!

[jaijai]

Where will your husband be working? I assume he'll have employment before you relocate?
Where he (and ultimately you) works is important info re; home location as commutes can be brutal.
And $1500 - $2000 for what? A studio? A one bedroom apartment? A house?
Do you realize how expensive rentals are in the bay area? ... and re; purchasing a home, how expensive property is?
And since you'll going to be renting at first and don't have children yet, are good schools an important criteria at this point?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

As a first step, mentally, you need to put all thoughts of "normal" suburban living, as you've known it in the Mid West, completely out of your mind.

Imagine living in a place that is a cross between Cicero and some borderline hood area. This would be true in terms of the size of the homes, the look of the area, etc.

Welcome to the Bay Area, sticker shock, warts and all.

[mayorhaggar]

Could probably live somewhere like Walnut Creek, which is a far cry from Cicero. Buying a house somewhere with a good school district will be at least $600,000 a year in the East Bay which is the cheapest part of the Bay Area. If you don't need a good school district you can find more affordable houses in places like Concord or Hercules.

Also figure out where your hubby will be working, most tech jobs are around San Jose/Silicon Valley which is an hour south of SF, though there's a lot of new tech firms cropping up in and near SF. Somewhere like Walnut Creek would not be good for commuting to Silicon Valley.

[mdurkin]

Originally Posted by jaijai

Where will your husband be working? I assume he'll have employment before you relocate?
Where he (and ultimately you) works is important info re; home location as commutes can be brutal.
And $1500 - $2000 for what? A studio? A one bedroom apartment? A house?
Do you realize how expensive rentals are in the bay area? ... and re; purchasing a home, how expensive property is?
And since you'll going to be renting at first and don't have children yet, are good schools an important criteria at this point?

Thanks for the reply!
My husband is applying to all the major IT companies in places such as Palo Alto, San Jose, Mountain View and San Mateo just to name a few. Part of our search is not limiting ourselves at all, so he is willing to apply wherever he can find jobs that he qualifies for.

I looked at rental prices in Palo Alto and yes, I was shocked (compared to rent here in Chicago), but I am not ruling anything out. We would be looking for a one to two bedroom apartment. I can tell from your reply that my $2000 a month will probably not go very far, so I am willing to pay more....I really have to see what our salaries will be once we move.

You are right on with your comment about good schools, I shouldn't be concerned with that right now. So, we can take good schools off the list.
Any additional information you could provide would be very helpful!!!

[mdurkin]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Could probably live somewhere like Walnut Creek, which is a far cry from Cicero. Buying a house somewhere with a good school district will be at least $600,000 a year in the East Bay which is the cheapest part of the Bay Area. If you don't need a good school district you can find more affordable houses in places like Concord or Hercules.

Also figure out where your hubby will be working, most tech jobs are around San Jose/Silicon Valley which is an hour south of SF, though there's a lot of new tech firms cropping up in and near SF. Somewhere like Walnut Creek would not be good for commuting to Silicon Valley.

Thanks so much for the reply!
My husband is applying everywhere! Some of the cities include: San Jose, Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Mateo. He is not limiting himself by location at all. We definitely do not want to live in a suburb like Cicero! The post that warned me that I am moving to a place just like Cicero or "the hood" really scared me. I am hoping that this is not the case!

I will definitely check out Walnut Creek...thanks for the suggestion!
Any additional information that you might have that would help us with our relocation would be extremely helpful and much appreciated! THANKS!

[bellalunatic]

I sure hope that he finds employment before you move out this way.

I wouldn't recommend moving to the Bay Area if neither of you have work lined up. Unless of course you are independently wealthy, then you'll be fine.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by mdurkin

We definitely do not want to live in a suburb like Cicero! The post that warned me that I am moving to a place just like Cicero or "the hood" really scared me. I am hoping that this is not the case!

The differences are that you won't find any brick houses in the Bay area due to earthquakes and you will pay 500% more for a home compared to Cicero.

Cicero example 1

Daly City example 1

San Mateo example 1

Sunnyvale Example 1

Mountain View example 1

[jaijai]

Mdurkin, due to the commuting issue, it makes no sense to look for housing until you know exactly where your husband is going to be working.
And yes, the 2K won't go far round these parts.
Rentals and home prices are ridiculously high.

[mdurkin]

Originally Posted by capoeira

The differences are that you won't find any brick houses in the Bay area due to earthquakes and you will pay 500% more for a home compared to Cicero.

Cicero example 1

Daly City example 1

San Mateo example 1

Sunnyvale Example 1

Mountain View example 1

Thanks for the examples. I completely understand the difference in home prices and expected that; however, I am hoping that crime and gang activity is not as bad in The cities you have listed above as compared to Cicero.