House hunting in the Bay Area in dec/jan (Santa Clara: real estate, apartments)

[Bellybee07]

Hi,

We moved a week ago from Europe and are house hunting. We have a real estate agent and use craigslist etc to look. Our agent said the dec inventory runs low.
Does it get better in January? Is it hard to come by decent homes near burlingame ave or millbrae? We just saw two that we are not entirely happy with. But I'm not sure if that's as good as it gets, or if we should wait a bit.

We are primarily looking at parts of burlingame and millbrae that are walking distance to basic shopping and nursery, library etc. The houses we've seen so far have had appalling woodwork, and dark interiors.
Is this to be expected? Or have we not seen the right homes yet. We thought we had a reasonable budget (7k) for a 3 bed 2 bath house.

Do any of you have recommendations for a temporary accommodation suitable with little kids? Where we are staying now there's no proper kitchen facility and it's rough on my little ones to be indoor most of the day.

Would appreciate any feedback.
A

[Chuck5000]

Inventory should definitely increase after December. Fo 7k per month, you should be fine, although worst case you might have to go to some place like San Mateo (it's nice), the parts one step down from Burlingame or Millbrae.

It is true that in general, quality of the older housing stock in the Bay Area is quite poor. Many, many, many cheaply-built small homes intended for working-class folks are now worth millions, and many have never been renovated. It's because this region transitioned very rapidly to a high earning one. .

Same story for many Bay Area apartment buildings - built for a lower income tier, with thin walls, tiny windows, poor ventilation, ugly cheap finishes. And even worse are the soft-story structures, and probably most of those apartment buildings built on piers over garages. Frightening.

[Bisaro TMF]

Are you renting or buying? If buying I hope you have a large down payment.

[Bellybee07]

Renting. We are here on a contract and will return to home base in a few years.s

[Bisaro TMF]

7K to rent is overkill. Unless you just want to blow your money. You can find something for less than that. Just on a quick search I found this. Yeah it's not IN burlingame but it's not far

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/5367036505.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/5371553226.html

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Bellybee07

Do any of you have recommendations for a temporary accommodation suitable with little kids? Where we are staying now there's no proper kitchen facility and it's rough on my little ones to be indoor most of the day.

Marriott Residence Inns have a full kitchen in all of their rooms. Towne Place Suites and Homewood Suites also have kitchens.

[Bellybee07]

Thank you bisaro, will check the one in San Mateo.

[dburbs1975]

I will echo the comment to use craigslist ONLY. realtors here do not want to bother with rentals and what you find will be overpriced. You will pay less for a rental found at this time of year because it is the off season. So this is a good thing for you!

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by Bellybee07

Hi,

We moved a week ago from Europe and are house hunting. We have a real estate agent and use craigslist etc to look. Our agent said the dec inventory runs low.
Does it get better in January? Is it hard to come by decent homes near burlingame ave or millbrae? We just saw two that we are not entirely happy with. But I'm not sure if that's as good as it gets, or if we should wait a bit.

We are primarily looking at parts of burlingame and millbrae that are walking distance to basic shopping and nursery, library etc. The houses we've seen so far have had appalling woodwork, and dark interiors.
Is this to be expected? Or have we not seen the right homes yet. We thought we had a reasonable budget (7k) for a 3 bed 2 bath house.

Do any of you have recommendations for a temporary accommodation suitable with little kids? Where we are staying now there's no proper kitchen facility and it's rough on my little ones to be indoor most of the day.

Would appreciate any feedback.
A

You're probably being too picky. The Bay Area is having a surge of people looking for housing - supply and demand. You could spend your time looking and looking, and turning down properties, only to come to the realization that you should have snatched some of them up, because the housing inventory doesn't get any better.

I'd suggest you rent according to location. In CA you can always break a lease. You only have to continue to pay rent until the landlord finds a new renter. This is a great time to rent, because it's a slow time to find renters. Most Americans don't move during the holidays, so if a landlord finds himself with a vacant unit, he doesn't expect it to rent until after January 1st. So, you may get a great place now because there won't be as much competition.

But, as you look at places, learn quickly what's available. Then snatch up a place that's in the best location that you can afford, while the market is slow, knowing you can move later.

Here's some landlord-tenant info for CA. I used to manage apartments in Santa Clara.

Breaking a Lease and Leaving Early | Nolo.com

California Tenants - California Department of Consumer Affairs

[twins4lynn]

We are primarily looking at parts of burlingame and millbrae that are walking distance to basic shopping and nursery, library etc. The houses we've seen so far have had appalling woodwork, and dark interiors.
Is this to be expected? Or have we not seen the right homes yet. We thought we had a reasonable budget (7k) for a 3 bed 2 bath house.

This is a slow time of year for finding rentals, but you should find something in Millbrae or Burlingame that you would like in a couple of months. You might actually be interested in this large apartment. It isn't in Millbrae or Burlingame (it's in San Mateo) and has so many nice features plus it's located in downtown San Mateo, is a couple of blocks from the park (which has lots of kids activities), and is a couple of blocks from the library. Its a short drive to Burlingame...just minutes.

December Move-In, Pay No December Rent **Downtown Location**