Rent or Buy? Location recommendations (San Jose, Pleasanton: real estate, renters, condo)

[barnes5]

My wife and I will be moving to the SJ area early next year from the midwest. (job promotion / transfer)

Our current situation:

No Kids- we do not plan to have any, so schools are not an issue.

Both of us will be working when we move as my wife also found a job fairly quickly, so dual income with combined base (not incl bonus) of > $220k
This income qualifies us for way more than we want to spend on a house, as we have always lived below our means.

Our financial adviser recommended renting vs buying, due to the high housing costs in the area.

But to rent - Pets are an issue, we have 3 rescued Pugs and there is NO way we will get rid of these dogs, as they are our family. Finding a decent rental that allows Pets is a challenge. We would prefer a single family home.

We have looked online until we are bleary eyed. (Craigslist, Realtor sites, zillow, zip reality) Rent vs Buy , Buy vs Rent , its almost too overwhelming

Also the areas that we seem to continue to come back to are Willow Glen / Campbell / maybe Los Gatos areas .

For those that have moved recently - what has your experience been in finding a good sfh rental that allows pets?

Are these good areas? Should we consider others?

Thanks for any advice

[jaijai]

All i can say is, if you're going to buy, don't do it until you've lived in the area for a good while.
I think it would be crazy to buy a house (especially in this state and with this market) before you even know what it's like to live somewhere.
You can find a rental with your pugs.
I have a dog and i know what a challenge it is.
Los Gatos is, imo, one of the best places to live if you need to be on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz mountains.
It's a good community and with a nice downtown and it's very close to the coast .... about half an hour when not during commuter times.
Btw, what is your budget for a rental?

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by barnes5

Both of us will be working when we move as my wife also found a job fairly quickly, so dual income with combined base (not incl bonus) of > $220k
This income qualifies us for way more than we want to spend on a house, as we have always lived below our means.

Using the 3 times your annual salary rule is how much house you can afford, you can't afford to get anything decent in the area. At that level you are looking at a very small old house,a house in a bad area or a long commute.

Example affordable Willow Glen house.

Telfer Avenue, San Jose CA

Example semi-affordable Campbell home.

Pollard Road, Campbell CA

Originally Posted by barnes5

Our financial adviser recommended renting vs buying, due to the high housing costs in the area.

Genius advisor,deserves a raise!

[RebekahOwen]

I think Campbell is a well run city, they have a great downtown and an active community along with the creek trail running from downtown SJ all the way to Santa Cruz ( if you are that prolific) Willow glen has a lot of downtown events and some great areas but you also have the financial uncertainty of San Jose along w San Jose unified school district ( full disclosure: got a sister and nephew in WG and they LOVE it)
Lastly, it's cheaper to buy than to rent in many areas right now and I am not a big fan of having a landlord telling me what I can and can not do

[SFBayBoomer]

Even landlords who will accept pets might balk at the prospect of three dogs, especially if you are considering a condo rather than a single family detached home.

Despite what someone else has posted, an annual income of $220,000 will qualify you for a nice house, as long as you can also put down 20%.

[easybay]

Barnes:

We were in the same situation as you are 1 1/2 years ago when we moved to San Jose from Houston, except we didn't have a dog (we do now). It is really tough to find a rental that allows dogs here simply because the rental market is insane (houses rent over the course of a weekend for immediate occupancy) and landlords have their pick of renters who don't have dogs. We rented a small, newer townhome for 2700 per month near Saratoga, for 9 months before we decide to purchase. Here were our reasons for buying:

1. Rental was too small - and the bigger house we were going rent was $3600 per month. So buying ended up being the same as renting.

2. We are in a buyers market - with prices down. (We bought our house for $100,000 less that the previous owner bought it for in 2004)

3. Silicon Valley is a valley - there is no room for expansion. So home prices are relatively more stable and will hold their value better than in the commuting areas (Pleasanton, etc.)

4. If we need to sell in the next couple years and prices haven't gone up, we can EASILY rent it out here.

5. I didn't want my husband to say I told you so, if the prices go up and we missed out on a real estate boom - it is California real estate here, so you never know what it is going to do.

I really like Willow Glen (our second choice - we ended up in the Rosegarden) and Los Gatos - Campbell not as much. We chose the Rosegarden because it was only 15 minutes to my husbands work and he hates commuting.

Good luck!

[barnes5]

Thank you everyone for some good feedback. There are alot of different options to consider.
The dogs really make it tough for rentals. Easybay - you bring up some good points, especially in a competitive rental market

[easybay]

Barnes -

There are a couple of threads on here for people trying to rent homes with dogs. When we were younger we had a Giant Schnauzer and I made a "resume" for her when we were looking for homes. I took pictures of the home I was currently living in to sell my landlord that I was a responsible pet owner.

When we moved here I put a home wanted ad on Craigslist (executive couple, non smoker and rent willing to pay in the title). We had a ton of replies - although we didn't end up renting from any of those landlords. It might work for you though. Good luck.