Apartment Hunt for Concord/Pleasant Hill/Walnut Creek. Recommendations? (Vallejo: apartment complex, rental)

[toothmcgooth]

Hello! I'll be moving to the East Bay this summer for my job after school. I'll be starting July 1st. I was hoping you guys could give some recommendations as to what apartments may be suitable for what I'm looking for. I've used padmapper but haven't seen anything too great lately.

-Looking for 1 bed / 1 bath
-$1200-$1400 max
-2 parking spaces (girlfriend moving in)
-decent neighborhood, not looking for luxury apartments. Just well kept, and not falling apart.
-Not next to freeway or loud highway.

So the interesting aspect of all this is showing pay stubs to them when I start applying. I technically won't be paid until Mid July and I'm currently a student so I don't have any income. My girlfriend works in So Cal and will quit her job to move up and may not have any proof of income at the time of applying. I will be making $40,000 in my residency. You think I can show the management my contract as proof of income and that will suffice? In terms of security deposits we should be fine as my girlfriend has money saved up. Any input appreciated.

[2sleepy]

just be careful about renting in Concord, there are some apartments there in your price range but they are nasty..really ghetto. You might want to extend the search to Martinez, Benicia, or Vallejo. They are cheaper than Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek. I'm not sure how you will manage the issue with no salary you might have better luck with a smaller complex or renting from an individual. Larger complexes seem to be very rigid in their requirements. You might also look into getting a co-signer.

You can probably figure out what's available by looking on craigslist, but if it's an apartment complex in Concord or Vallejo, check Apartment Ratings and Reviews | ApartmentRatings or Yelp.

[toothmcgooth]

Thanks for the reply! I didn't realize Martinez was a safer place than Concord. I'll definitely look into it. I think my absolute maximum would be $1500. My job will be in Pittsburg but my GF will be looking for work in the bay area so we're kind of looking for a middle area.

[2sleepy]

Martinez is quite safe. It's a bit boring but quaint, the only real downside is the train noise if you rent near the downtown area but I think most people get used to it and don't even notice it. It's very close to North Concord BART too. Don't rent at the Martinez Hillside Apartments, they are cheap but weird, and the parking lot is full of sketchy looking teenagers. The complex used to be a senior citizens only building and has interior hallways with handrails on them ugh. If you get lucky you might find one of the older duplexes for rent, they are usually on the small side but afford you lots of privacy and most of them are offered by the property owner rather than a management company which might give you more of an opportunity to explain your financial situation. If you can't find anything there check across the bridge in Benicia, it's a pleasant, safe little town

[toothmcgooth]

The more I look at apartments now I realize I'll have to bump up my limit to $1500 to find anything in a nice place.

[2sleepy]

That's probably more realistic for one of the large complexes but you might be able to find a duplex or an apartment in a smaller complex for less than that in one of the areas I mentioned. The bargains go really fast, my son found a nice duplex for $1150 in Martinez last week, it even had it's own garage but it rented before he could get off work to go look at it.

[toothmcgooth]

Oh wow. Yeah part of the problem is I'm still in school in the Midwest. I graduate end of May. Will return to So Cal (where I'm originally from), then make trips up to Nor Cal and figure it all out. I know it's early but I just want to plan ahead. Do you recommend other search engines other than padmapper for these smaller complexes?

[2sleepy]

I think Padmapper just picks up Craigslist but some people prefer the layout and the ability to filter results more than you can on Craigslist. Someone on the forum suggested checking rental management company websites but the only ones I have found are for Vallejo (which is cheaper than anywhere else in the vicinity and isn't bad if you are careful about what area you rent in). Most of the apartment.com and rent.com sites are junk because they don't usually even show vacancies and most of the rents aren't even current. I don't really know of any other legit rental sites, and the market is so fast now that if a listing is 3 or 4 days old it's either so bad no one will rent it, or the site wasn't updated after it was rented.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

just be careful about renting in Concord, there are some apartments there in your price range but they are nasty..really ghetto. You might want to extend the search to Martinez, Benicia, or Vallejo. They are cheaper than Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek. I'm not sure how you will manage the issue with no salary you might have better luck with a smaller complex or renting from an individual. Larger complexes seem to be very rigid in their requirements. You might also look into getting a co-signer.

You can probably figure out what's available by looking on craigslist, but if it's an apartment complex in Concord or Vallejo, check Apartment Ratings and Reviews | ApartmentRatings or Yelp.

There isn't anything "ghetto" about Concord. There are some apt buildings off of Monument that are definitely grubby and seedy---but it's not "ghetto"---just a lot of Mexicans (and probably some gang activity), but there are plenty of big stores, like Costco, Big Lots, Orchard Supply, etc. It's really not bad if you've ever been around an actual ghetto for a comparison.

OP--try looking at the apartment buildings in/around Diablo Valley College or on the Pleasant Hill border of Martinez. There may be a chance that you'll find something in your price range since there are a lot of students around and more open to your predicament.

[toothmcgooth]

Thanks for the advice Clongirl!