Moving to Sonoma County in 4 weeks. Questions about Petaluma and Santa Rosa Housing (Oakland: apartments)

[MaireM]

I grew up in 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.

[Chuck5000]

Hi, I'm of minimal help to you but I'm sure others will post to help you with Santa Rosa specifics.

I have one idea for you - if competition is really bad and you want a given place, and you want to stand out from other equally qualified candidates, consider bidding for it. Yes, for a rental! (It's common in the purchase markets within commuting range of SF or SV). Offer the landlord 5 or 10% over asking if you think the value is there. I really doubt many candidates are doing that.

Another poster recently said that Sonoma county has had a large increase in jobs, but basically near zero increase in the number of apartments. Basically the entire region has had the same problem, and there's no way out of it short of a major decline in jobs, i.e. a recession.

If I were you, just as an emergency backup, I'd think of an alternate plan outside of Sonoma. Lake County? Benicia? Being near shops is probably the one thing you'd have to drop, because places with walkability are very much in demand and also very rare. Good luck! Try also searching this forum for "Santa Rosa"

[MaireM]

Originally Posted by Chuck5000

Hi, I'm of minimal help to you but I'm sure others will post to help you with Santa Rosa specifics.

I have one idea for you - if competition is really bad and you want a given place, and you want to stand out from other equally qualified candidates, consider bidding for it. Yes, for a rental! (It's common in the purchase markets within commuting range of SF or SV). Offer the landlord 5 or 10% over asking if you think the value is there. I really doubt many candidates are doing that.

Another poster recently said that Sonoma county has had a large increase in jobs, but basically near zero increase in the number of apartments. Basically the entire region has had the same problem, and there's no way out of it short of a major decline in jobs, i.e. a recession.

If I were you, just as an emergency backup, I'd think of an alternate plan outside of Sonoma. Lake County? Benicia? Being near shops is probably the one thing you'd have to drop, because places with walkability are very much in demand and also very rare. Good luck! Try also searching this forum for "Santa Rosa"

Thank you for your suggestion. We could definitely make a higher bid.

We don't have an alternative to Sonoma County as I will be working there and we have friends there. Lake County is unsafe and has no jobs. Benicia, I am not familiar with. Walking distance to stores is not an absolute requirement and we will give it up to find the right place if we need to.
I am also thinking of the actual town of Sonoma. Beautiful town and I was just contacted my someone wanting to rent out their second home there.

Keep the ideas coming. Thanks!

[Macrina]

Originally Posted by MaireM

Thank you for your suggestion. We could definitely make a higher bid.

We don't have an alternative to Sonoma County as I will be working there and we have friends there. Lake County is unsafe and has no jobs. Benicia, I am not familiar with. Walking distance to stores is not an absolute requirement and we will give it up to find the right place if we need to.
I am also thinking of the actual town of Sonoma. Beautiful town and I was just contacted my someone wanting to rent out their second home there.

Keep the ideas coming. Thanks!

Check housing prices in both Windsor and Rohnert Park. These are or were, perhaps, basically 'bedrooms' for Santa Rosa, with lots of rentals and some of the areas are newer/nicer than others.

Welcome to Sonoma County! It's one of my favourite places.

[Hawk J]

My Aunt, Uncle, cousins happily lived in Sonoma for about 40 years. They loved it there.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...n+Sonoma%2C+CA

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...t+in+Sonoma+CA

Best of luck finding your place...

[Macrina]

Originally Posted by Hawk J

My Aunt, Uncle, cousins happily lived in Sonoma for about 40 years. They loved it there.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...n+Sonoma%2C+CA

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...t+in+Sonoma+CA

Best of luck finding your place...

I agree that the town of Sonoma is quaint and historical and is a lovely place in which to retire. Really nice restaurants and some good shopping. But the commute to Santa Rosa takes a long time, not because it's far off, but because of two lane windy roads. So this is something to take into account, Maire, when you're considering possible areas. As far as I remember, there is really only Highway 12 for the travel.

[MaireM]

Originally Posted by MaireM

I grew up in 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.

We have been offered a month to month home to rent in Bodega Bay that is exactly what we want and in out price range. We would stay there temporarily while securing something closer to work and a little away from the coast (too cold and windy most of the year for us). We would be there the best time of year Aug-Oct. Anyone have any advice on insight on Bodega Bay?