distinct rent ranges: what is the difference? (Sunnyvale, Santa Clara: apartment complex, rental)

[5thgenSF]

that doesn't make it a gated community. it makes it some bogus selling point.

Originally Posted by fashionguy

Your understanding of gated community is actually quite off. Many big apartment complexes now advertise their community as gated to give prospective tenants a sense of security.

[buenos]

"Your understanding of gated community is actually quite off"
-ok, it might be. I am not from around here. I lived in europe, we didnt have inner streets and gates and guards. Last time I lived in a complex in england, 4 story building, 4-5 main doors open to the inner corridoors/stairs, and underneath the building (basement) there was the car park. To get into the car park i had to use a remote to open the garagedoor-like door, so only residents could get in. That was not a gated community, just a "building" in the city center.
Where I live now here in San Jose is a big area sorrounded by fence, it has small streets in it, has 2story buildings with studio/1bed/2bed apartments, 6 swimming pools. To get to my front door, i have to drive through a gate, it reads the barcode on my car, the gate lifts/opens, then i drive through the small inner streets to my carport. The weird thing is there is a guest lane where anyone can drive through during the day (guard operated at night), and anyone can walk through next to the gate. just the residents cant get in without the barcode sticker on their cars. Security guards are roaming around especially at night.
On websites like apartments.com they advertise mostly similar complexes like the one where i live now (the woods). After I arrived here this is what I saw, I am making my assumptions based on what i see. I have not seen much of the bay area yet. So I dont know how common is housing like The Woods.

About apartments, I can probably check the quality of it myself once I'm inside, but i have no idea of the safety side of it. I mean here in California, neighborhoods where drogdealers and similar people leave look a lot prettier than streets (mostly in inner city) in Europe where where rich people leave. So I cant yet recognise the signs of good/bad local areas and building-types, since I just moved here few months ago. That was the basis of my original post.

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by buenos

"Your understanding of gated community is actually quite off"
-ok, it might be. I am not from around here. I lived in europe, we didnt have inner streets and gates and guards. Last time I lived in a complex in england, 4 story building, 4-5 main doors open to the inner corridoors/stairs, and underneath the building (basement) there was the car park. To get into the car park i had to use a remote to open the garagedoor-like door, so only residents could get in. That was not a gated community, just a "building" in the city center.
Where I live now here in San Jose is a big area sorrounded by fence, it has small streets in it, has 2story buildings with studio/1bed/2bed apartments, 6 swimming pools. To get to my front door, i have to drive through a gate, it reads the barcode on my car, the gate lifts/opens, then i drive through the small inner streets to my carport. The weird thing is there is a guest lane where anyone can drive through during the day (guard operated at night), and anyone can walk through next to the gate. just the residents cant get in without the barcode sticker on their cars. Security guards are roaming around especially at night.
On websites like apartments.com they advertise mostly similar complexes like the one where i live now (the woods). After I arrived here this is what I saw, I am making my assumptions based on what i see. I have not seen much of the bay area yet. So I dont know how common is housing like The Woods.

About apartments, I can probably check the quality of it myself once I'm inside, but i have no idea of the safety side of it. I mean here in California, neighborhoods where drogdealers and similar people leave look a lot prettier than streets (mostly in inner city) in Europe where where rich people leave. So I cant yet recognise the signs of good/bad local areas and building-types, since I just moved here few months ago. That was the basis of my original post.

no, no, he was saying i was the one that was confused.

[vrhunski]

first URL was SCAM and second one is real

[buenos]

they have removed the first one yesterday. Until then the link was working.
maybe someone has rented it out just 1-2 days after it was advertised. The reason might be (or might not be) that it was cheap and good.

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by vrhunski

first URL was SCAM and second one is real

the first link says deleted by its author. it does not say "flagged for removal".

[BayAreaHillbilly]

There is a bit of a bimodal distribution in overall real estate costs in the Bay Area. The main factor is schools followed immediately by crime and area demographics.

The best areas are rocketing, the others, not so much.

[buenos]

OK, what do I get for 1200/month?
1bed apartments in south-sunnyvale, north san jose advertised at 1200. How bad can it be?
The size does not really matter, if it is at least 500-600sqft and has a separate bedroom. School districts dont bother me too much as i am single no kids. safety, quality and niceness.

A few more at 1200:
Upstairs Apartment, End Unit, A/C, Pool, Balcony, Carport, Great Location!
Minutes from Public Transit, Second Floor 1-Bedroom
1 Spacious Upstairs Unit Available 7/30 in the Rose Garden Area!!

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by buenos

OK, what do I get for 1200/month?
1bed apartments in south-sunnyvale, north san jose advertised at 1200. How bad can it be?
The size does not really matter, if it is at least 500-600sqft and has a separate bedroom. School districts dont bother me too much as i am single no kids. safety, quality and niceness.

A few more at 1200:
Upstairs Apartment, End Unit, A/C, Pool, Balcony, Carport, Great Location!
Minutes from Public Transit, Second Floor 1-Bedroom
1 Spacious Upstairs Unit Available 7/30 in the Rose Garden Area!!

i don't see anything wrong with any of those. in fact, that first link looks like a complex i lived in back in the 70's. lol.

[fashionguy]

These are all fine. If you don't care about size, washer/dryer, AC, etc. and just want a decent place to rest and can deal with some inconveniences, there are still plenty of inexpensive apartments in the bay area. It is mainly those big and updated ones that are a lot more expensive. South sunnyvale is generally more expensive than North San Jose. The sunnyvale one in these is really small. In Sunnyvale, the closer to Mountain View, the more expensive it gets.

Honestly, this round of spiking in South Bay is mainly centered around the Palo Alto/Mountain View area, caused by aggressive hirings of Google/Facebook/LinkedIn, etc and some well funded startups around that area. Even Cupertino's rent spiking is to a much smaller degree. I recently saw a 2 bedroom condo unit with around 900 square feet and nothing special priced at $2190 in North San Jose and honestly think the landlord is out of his mind. North San Jose is affected a little bit by this rent increase, but not that much. For a well managed apartment complex with upgraded appliances, maybe. For a condo unit with no onsite office whatsoever, no way at that price. Some landlords are too over their head.

Originally Posted by buenos

OK, what do I get for 1200/month?
1bed apartments in south-sunnyvale, north san jose advertised at 1200. How bad can it be?
The size does not really matter, if it is at least 500-600sqft and has a separate bedroom. School districts dont bother me too much as i am single no kids. safety, quality and niceness.

A few more at 1200:
Upstairs Apartment, End Unit, A/C, Pool, Balcony, Carport, Great Location!
Minutes from Public Transit, Second Floor 1-Bedroom
1 Spacious Upstairs Unit Available 7/30 in the Rose Garden Area!!