Moving in a few Weeks! Help with Housing and Good Area's in Santa Rosa/Petaluma/Sonoma County. (Oakland: real estate)

[MaireM]

I am originally from the south bay area of SF. I moved away for college and ended up on the east coast but now my family (my husband, myself, my mother and our 2 year old rescue dog - an obedience-trained, 38pd Aussie/Spaniel), has decided to move back to CA. My sister lives near Oakland and is a single parent of young twins. My cousin lives nearby and is having a baby soon... I want to be near them (within 90 minutes) but don't want to live in the craziness of SF/Oakland. We have made multiple visits to Sonoma County and are convinced it is perfect for us.

The problem is finding a rental. Our budget is around $2,000 a month (with slight wiggle room to go up a little if water/ trash are included), for a 2 bedroom and we can give a separate $2,000 security deposit for just the dog. We can even pay 6 month's rent upfront. Petaluma is our favorite town but Santa Rosa is more our budget, it seems, and has pet-friendly apartments. However, we would like to try for a house or duplex first - something with a small yard. We found a great place on Craig's List but it turned out to be a scam (already rented by another agency, though the person who contacted us claimed to work for Keller Williams), so now we are leery and worried...

We will be staying at my sister's in Emeryville while looking for a place but we need to keep our time there to a bare minimum.
My questions are:

1. What are the safest but less crazy-expensive area's of Santa Rosa? We also need to be near shops as my mother doesn't drive...Would love to be near some nice parks.

2. We are looking between Petaluma, Sebastopol, and Healdsburg (I know Healdsburg is an unlikely spot to find a rental in our price range..) We are into the outdoors-kayaking, hiking, biking, dog parks, the beach (though we don't want to be right on the coast)- plus galleries, museums, books, photography, writer's workshops, cafes, music and plays. Any other suggestions for towns in the area where we may find rentals within our budget? We would really like to be 60-90 minutes north of SF...

3. How do you secure a rental once you find one you like? So many people are looking at them all at once....Any way other than CL to connect with private landlord's? Do we just bring 6 months rent in cash to the open house, get there early, and pray? (We have unusually good landlord references and 700 credit too...)
Does it get easier to secure a rental in the area after the kids are back in school and families are not moving so much? (Someone at a leasing office told me this....)

4. Any other (positive) tips from people who live in these area's regarding private rentals, legitimate property management companies, safe and unsafe area's, how to secure a rental and places where my Mother (who is 68 and gets along like a 50 year old but doesn't drive), could walk or bike to some stores would be very welcome.

The moving truck is reserved, we are mostly packed and I have given notice at work....We just need a home. Thank you for reading this and thank you in advance for your help.

[fluffythewondercat]

I can't answer most of your questions but I can tell you CL rental scams are common. You might try Zillow instead if you haven't already.

I would caution not to put too much reliance into prepaying 6 months rent. Many landlords are leery of prepaid rent because it means that if your tenancy turns out to be a problem it is a huge hassle to evict you. If you're confident you will pass a credit and background check with flying colors (and have jobs waiting here in California), it will probably be enough to show the LL a bank statement.

You secure a rental by submitting a *complete* application and keep putting in applications at places you like until you're accepted.

[MaireM]

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

I can't answer most of your questions but I can tell you CL rental scams are common. You might try Zillow instead if you haven't already.

I would caution not to put too much reliance into prepaying 6 months rent. Many landlords are leery of prepaid rent because it means that if your tenancy turns out to be a problem it is a huge hassle to evict you. If you're confident you will pass a credit and background check with flying colors (and have jobs waiting here in California), it will probably be enough to show the LL a bank statement.

You secure a rental by submitting a *complete* application and keep putting in applications at places you like until you're accepted.

Thanks for the input. My husband is self-employed/independent contractor. He has 1099's and tax forms to show his income. I do have a job waiting for me and also have an on-line business and my mother has a set monthly social security income plus she will be looking for a job (in a shop or hotel), 2 or 3 days a week, mostly to keep busy. We have money saved as well.

My sister got her recent rental by paying 6 months up-front (she was also the first to inquire). Her income was not as high as some other applicants and she has 2 kids and a small dog but the property manager said the 6 month pre-payment was why they picked her...I guess it just depends on landlord....

I will let them know we are only offering to pre-pay because we are VERY serious about the rental and I will offer an extra $50 a month.

[NatureYogi]

OP hope it is going well for you!!

Originally Posted by MaireM

Does it get easier to secure a rental in the area after the kids are back in school and families are not moving so much? (Someone at a leasing office told me this....)

What months would that be?? Considering a move to Santa Rosa myself.

[OwlKaMyst]

Quite some time ago, I was a single mother on a limited income and I found a cheap house on Airport road between Santa Rosa and Windsor. However, that was in the years right before they began to develop Windsor.
You may have to sacrifice being close to shops, can't walk, but can ride the bus.
Anything that is on the outskirts is going to be closer in the range you can afford.
There is also the river towns, Forestville, Rio Nido, etc. My son has a place, one bedroom that allows pets, he pays $1,300.
I am more north between Hopland and Ukiah, I pay the same for a 3 bedroom.

And in my experience, cash talks!

[MaireM]

Cash talks! Good to know! We think we have found a great month-to-month in Bodega Bay but for a permanent place we need to be closer to work outside Santa Rosa. But, at least we have a lovely place to land. I posted my own ad's on-line and had 2 scam responses but several good, genuine responses from dog-friendly landlords :-)

Don't give up hope North Bay rental seekers! And do not listen if you are told no landlord in the area will take a pet. My sister just landed a great place that had no problem whatsoever with her dog and this was after just 2 weeks of looking (she has lived in 2 other nice, pet-friendly homes in the area). She does have a high credit score and she pre-pays the first 3-6 months rent.

[Registrarln]

I was fortunate to find an amazing rental in Petaluma, and it happened to be on Craigslist. Go figure! You can also try the real estate sites (realtor.com, trulia.com, etc.) as they have rental listings. Most are apartments, though. Another option is to look at local Property Management companies. Their rentals tend to be a little higher but you may find something.

Oh, and the place I'm in now, the ad said "no dogs". I brought mine to my "interview" with the landlords and they fell in love with him :-) Never say never, especially if they are small and/or quiet.