Relocating in February (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara: apartment complexes, renters, car insurance)

[Ritam]

I'll be relocating to the South Bay in Late February to start a new position at a silicon valley IT shop. I'm somewhat obsessive about "doing my homework" so I've been trying to do a lot of looking at apartments online in advance, but would love some input from those in the area.

I'm married, and currently live in a suburb of Atlanta in a 2-bedroom 1-bath apartment, ~940 sq ft. The 2nd bedroom is our home office, and I'm getting the feeling we'll have to sacrifice that to meet our other criteria.

We're looking for the following:
- <30 minute drive to Mountain View/Sunnyvale (my new employer is near moffett field)
- recent construction (late 90s or later)
- washer/dryer in unit
- safe neighborhood
- budget: $1900-1950/mo.

2 bedroom would be ideal, but as I said, I think that's not going to happen without sacrificing something else.

It's hard to get a feel for apartment complexes online because it seems that most reviewers have an axe to grind -- so many people seem to be mad that "parking sucks" so they give it a 1* review.

Any input/advice would be much appreciated!

[mysticaltyger]

I think your general criteria are such that you may have to sacrifice a bedroom. You could live further away in San Jose and pay less rent (but pay more in time and commuting costs--may not be worth it). Or you could rent in an older complex, which tends to be cheaper. Also, the smaller, non-corporate landlords generally are harder to find online (except for Craigslist). There aren't many of those kind of landlords in this area, as all of SV is dominated by large cookie cutter complexes run by corporate landlords; but if you can find a good local landlord, they are like gold.

$1900 would get a 2BR with your criteria pretty easily a few years ago, but I'm not sure now, as rents have been jacked up. That's another thing that's typical of this area. Expect large rent increases every year and build them into your budget. As soon as the economy picks up even a little bit, the landlords are able to jack up the rent. This area is chronically underbuilt, partly because it's built out, partly because property tax and environmental laws act as a disincentive for local governments to have new housing built, and partly because of NIMBYs who don't want new housing in their back yards.

[Ritam]

Thanks for the info -- it pretty much confirms what I'd suspected from the apartments I'd seen online. I'm trying to figure out what neighborhoods to avoid as well. I'm trying to use crimereports.com to avoid the worst areas, but it seems that things like car break-ins are pretty universal. Mostly I'd just like to avoid violent crime, of course.

It seems the corporate landlords do a pretty good job of screwing renters over, but that's not unique to the Bay Area -- same problems occur here.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Ritam

Thanks for the info -- it pretty much confirms what I'd suspected from the apartments I'd seen online. I'm trying to figure out what neighborhoods to avoid as well. I'm trying to use crimereports.com to avoid the worst areas, but it seems that things like car break-ins are pretty universal. Mostly I'd just like to avoid violent crime, of course.

It seems the corporate landlords do a pretty good job of screwing renters over, but that's not unique to the Bay Area -- same problems occur here.

Both Sunnyvale and Mountain View have their dumpy areas, but violent crime is generally not a big problem in either city. Same goes for Santa Clara (which might be a little bit cheaper than SV or MV). San Jose is mostly safe, but it does have its high crime areas, mostly in East San Jose. Although East SJ is tame by big city standards, you still wouldn't want to live there.

You are generally correct about the break ins. I live in downtown SJ and have been here 3 years and never had a problem with my car being broken into. Then I had it broken into 2 times within 2 weeks. I think it was the same person. Don't leave anything visible in your car. Although the 2nd time I had nothing visibile in my car and it was still broken into, but it's still a good precaution. But I'd lived in SJ for a total of 14 years up to the time of those break-ins and I'd never had a problem (and that included 1.5 years in a not so good East SJ neighborhood).

I am sure you are right that corporate landlords are the same everywhere. The thing is, they can get away with even more here. They have the upper hand because the vacancy rate is almost always low.

[Ritam]

Is there a hard and fast rule as to what constitutes East San Jose? Is it more or less each side of the 101?

I'll have 30 days of corporate housing when I move in, but I'll also be getting accustomed to the new job in that time, so I'm hoping to at least have a head start on the process when I get there.

So many of the ads on craigslist read as either scammy or not nearly enough information, and I feel like I'm still quite a ways out from a move in, so many of the smaller places with availability now may not have anything by my move-in date.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Ritam

Is there a hard and fast rule as to what constitutes East San Jose? Is it more or less each side of the 101?

I'll have 30 days of corporate housing when I move in, but I'll also be getting accustomed to the new job in that time, so I'm hoping to at least have a head start on the process when I get there.

So many of the ads on craigslist read as either scammy or not nearly enough information, and I feel like I'm still quite a ways out from a move in, so many of the smaller places with availability now may not have anything by my move-in date.

East San Jose zip codes:

95116
95122
95111
95121
95127

It's not that all neighborhoods in these zip codes are bad. There are some nice pockets in these, but you probably still don't want to live in these spots because you'll be in close proximity to bad areas and it's really better for you to be closer to work, anyway. The savings of living in a so-so neighborhood aren't much, as the rent is only marginallly lower and your car insurance costs will be higher as well as potential problems with break ins and a generally lower quality of life (shopping carts and litter on the sidewalks, eyesore houses, more people living in housing units than they were designed for, etc.)

You are probably right about the availability. The housing market is tight right now because the job market in tech is improving and you have a lot of people who defaulted on their mortgages going back to renting. Places come and go quickly. Typical Silicon Valley rat race.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Ritam

I'm married, and currently live in a suburb of Atlanta in a 2-bedroom 1-bath apartment, ~940 sq ft.

Right now, this will cost you $2000/month in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, and about $150/month less in Santa Clara.

- recent construction (late 90s or later)
- washer/dryer in unit

Hard to find at a $2000 budget.

- safe neighborhood

Most places in Sunnyvale, MV, Cupertino, Santa Clara are fine.

It's hard to get a feel for apartment complexes online because it seems that most reviewers have an axe to grind -- so many people seem to be mad that "parking sucks" so they give it a 1* review.

Before you decide on a place, google it and make sure no unexpected news. Example: earlier this year I was looking for an apartment. We found on in Mountain View that looked great plus it was a good price. We were ready to sign. Then I googled it and uncovered news articles from a couple years back about a big asbestos problem in those apartments. So I said "nope" and we looked elsewhere.

[dclamb3]

Before you decide on a place, google it and make sure no unexpected news. Example: earlier this year I was looking for an apartment. We found on in Mountain View that looked great plus it was a good price. We were ready to sign. Then I googled it and uncovered news articles from a couple years back about a big asbestos problem in those apartments. So I said "nope" and we looked elsewhere.

Great tip! I hadn't even thought of that.