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Old 04-23-2012, 11:04 PM
 
6 posts, read 11,986 times
Reputation: 10

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Hello Everyone,

We (My Wife and I) are originally from INDIA and currently based out of Los Angeles, CA.
We have been in US for last 4 years and we will be moving to San Francisco Bay Area in 1 month, as I have accepted a Job Offer from a Company based in San Mateo, CA.

We are pretty new to the Bay Area and currently looking for Accommodation options and we would want to stay in an Apartment.
We have some queries / concerns about which localities we should target to stay in Bay Area and we have also listed our priorities below.
It would be great if you could take out time and respond with views and suggestions, as that could be very beneficial for us.

Priority# 1: Safety
We would definitely want to stay in a Safe Apartment / Community / Locality where we can be relaxed to roam around late nights and we need not worry about possibilities of theft / burglary or any other such activities. I know no one can guarantee to be a 100% safe place, but we would like to stay in safer areas.

Priority# 2: Apartment Condition
Good Maintenance and Services by Apartment. Preferably remodeled apartments with newer Kitchen appliances, free of mold, cockroaches, bugs etc. We do not want to spend too much on rent either, say not more than $1500 per month for a 1 BedRoom Apartment

Priority# 3: Amenities provided by the Housing Community
We would want all the basic amenities like Laundry facility, Covered Parking, Kitchen Appliances, would prefer a Fitness Center (not must)

Priority# 4: Commute Convenience
Distance from San Mateo (ideally not more than 30 mins drive). Close to Shopping / Grocery Stores and Public Transport

Priority# 5: Weather
We would prefer an area that is not heavily affected by the fog, and not very cold

I know, there are too many questions here. But I would really appreciate feedback for any of the above.

Thanks in advance
VM
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Old 04-24-2012, 09:41 AM
 
Location: Lafayette, CA
2,518 posts, read 4,003,230 times
Reputation: 624
Hmm. You don't want fog, so I'd say East Bay, but you don't want to commute over 30 minutes, so that makes the East Bay a tough sell.

You could live on the Peninsula, but you only want to spend $1,500 a month with an apartment with lots of amenities. So that's out.

To be honest, I'm at a loss here given all of your requirements.
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Old 04-24-2012, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
28,226 posts, read 36,788,401 times
Reputation: 28561
Sorry, you either need to up your commute time or your budget. You might find something OK in Fremont. The commute would likely be at the very edge of your 30 minutes, but it is a very congested commute.
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Old 04-24-2012, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
460 posts, read 980,262 times
Reputation: 299
San Mateo is one of the better valued areas in the peninsula and also Foster City. Stretch your budget on rent to cut down on transportation costs. Either way, there are trade-offs.
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Old 04-24-2012, 01:10 PM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,890,026 times
Reputation: 4942
Quote:
Originally Posted by vishucool View Post
Hello Everyone,

We (My Wife and I) are originally from INDIA and currently based out of Los Angeles, CA.
We have been in US for last 4 years and we will be moving to San Francisco Bay Area in 1 month, as I have accepted a Job Offer from a Company based in San Mateo, CA.

We are pretty new to the Bay Area and currently looking for Accommodation options and we would want to stay in an Apartment.
We have some queries / concerns about which localities we should target to stay in Bay Area and we have also listed our priorities below.
It would be great if you could take out time and respond with views and suggestions, as that could be very beneficial for us.

Priority# 1: Safety
We would definitely want to stay in a Safe Apartment / Community / Locality where we can be relaxed to roam around late nights and we need not worry about possibilities of theft / burglary or any other such activities. I know no one can guarantee to be a 100% safe place, but we would like to stay in safer areas.

Priority# 2: Apartment Condition
Good Maintenance and Services by Apartment. Preferably remodeled apartments with newer Kitchen appliances, free of mold, cockroaches, bugs etc. We do not want to spend too much on rent either, say not more than $1500 per month for a 1 BedRoom Apartment

Priority# 3: Amenities provided by the Housing Community
We would want all the basic amenities like Laundry facility, Covered Parking, Kitchen Appliances, would prefer a Fitness Center (not must)

Priority# 4: Commute Convenience
Distance from San Mateo (ideally not more than 30 mins drive). Close to Shopping / Grocery Stores and Public Transport

Priority# 5: Weather
We would prefer an area that is not heavily affected by the fog, and not very cold

I know, there are too many questions here. But I would really appreciate feedback for any of the above.

Thanks in advance
VM
Honestly, mid-peninsula areas (Milbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City) sound like they may fit your needs best, but probably with some adjustments to your requirements. The East Bay could work but the areas closest to the San Mateo bridge are not my favorite areas of the bay area (although, they are cheaper), and the better parts of the East Bay (that are still affordable) are definitely outside of 30 minutes during commuting hours.

The only difficulty with the peninsula will be finding that apt for ~1500. I know these still exist in the area (for instance, my building has 1 bedrooms starting just under that price, and we have the amenities you're looking for), but they are certainly harder to find today than they were just 1 year ago because the rents in the bay area overall have (annoyingly) gone up a lot in a very short amount of time. What's caused this rise has been a kind of a "perfect storm" of conditions in the housing/job markets, and it's been discussed at length in a few threads on this board and in articles by local/national news organizations. But, regardless of the cause, the fact is it is getting more expensive to live here, which always hurts people just moving the area the most.

Craigslist works ok for finding places, but I found my place from word of mouth and from just driving around the neighborhoods and looking for "for rent" signs. I feel like because everyone uses craigslist, landlords can become overwhelmed very easily, and it can be difficult to get their attention. There are a still a lot of complexes/buildings that don't advertise there (or anywhere on the internet, really). I focused on the downtown areas of peninsula cities because I wanted a nice walkable area close to stores/restaurants and Caltrain, and had good success with this strategy (although it took me a while to nail down an area I liked best).

However, looking at your situation, you will realistically either need to:

1) stretch how much you're willing to pay for an apartment to guarantee you get what you're looking for

2) stretch how far you're willing to drive to get to work in San Mateo (opening up cheaper options in the East Bay)


I do think you could still find something close to your range in San Mateo (although probably not in Burlingame), but by being more flexible, you will definitely open up your options a lot more. The same goes for opening up the driving distance/time to work restriction.

I personally prefer to live close to work, but some people are willing to compromise on a commute (and this may be true for you). You will, of course, need to consider the price of gas and tolls the further away from work you look.

Last edited by HockeyMac18; 04-24-2012 at 01:17 PM.. Reason: typos
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