Need advice to move to California (Pleasanton, Cupertino: rent, school district, living)

[senthil_soms]

I really appreciate your time and advice. Just wanted to add some more clarifications. My wife is planning to work soon so I am hoping that I can afford to the expenses. I am planning to rent instead of buying a house there.

BTW I am not a troll. I have ZERO knowledge about the region. Just know that the number of IT jobs are more and most of the tech companies are around

"Have you started the process of finding a career yet, or are you just probing?"
A: I am already in a good job just wanted to move there and started applying for jobs in San Jose area. Not getting good response as I am not a local candidate (I guess)

[senthil_soms]

I am tired of commuting to Chicago from Naperville.. I need a small place too

[mdwstrnkid]

Regarding your comment about difficulties getting a response about local jobs: Most companies that I know have greatly scaled back relocation packages since I came to the Valley a decade ago. The relo package that I got as a developer would probably only be offered to a director-level hire (or higher) at my company today. Unless you possess hard-to-find skills, you will have a more difficult time getting your foot in the door. If you end up getting an offer, be prepared that the relo package might be less than what you were expecting. I'm not trying to be a downer here, but trying to help you set some realistic expectations.

[sjnative]

Depends so heavily on where you want to move to and why.

San Jose is hardly a dream place to live. People complain there is "nothing to do" here and compared to SF, I can't blame them. Parts of it will be less expensive but less desirable, i.e. most of SJ, while parts that are desirable- Willow Glen, Shasta Hanchette Park, Almaden Valley- can be more expensive with WG and SH homes easily near 1M.

Sunnyvale is hardly more desirable than SJ in terms of the attractiveness of its neighborhoods or recreational attractions. It seems to be a bit more affluent and cleaner, though.

Parts of Mountain View and nearly all of Palo Alto would be, to me, a dream place to live as many of the neighborhoods are old. That is, they're the SFBA's version of old, many of the homes built from 1890-1920, full of character, and tree-lined. IMO, beautiful. However, the homes will easily be close to 1M if not beyond. PA is very clean and seems very safe, though; it's what I wish more of SJ was like.

Can you settle for a tract home in a middle class neighborhood or do you want a turn-of-the-century bungalow? I'm not sure what you're after.

[sjnative]

Though I don't work on your field, I concur with mdwstrnkid in that the heyday of SV companies relocating people from all over the USA is over.

With unemployment high, the valley likely has plenty of engineers, many of them probably being the relocated. The SJ Mercury News just did an article on how companies here posted profit gains, but aren't hiring in proportion to those gains.

Pessimistically speaking, now might be the time to sit tight where you're at and wait until companies are less shrewd and cautious.

[mdwstrnkid]

Just to give you some numbers: My friends just moved into a place in Midtown Palo Alto at the beginning of the year. They have a 3BR/2BA that's just a touch under 1100 sq ft. They are renting as well and are currently paying $3000/month. Unless your wife goes back to work, that rent would be at the very upper limit of affordability if you were to find a job with a similar rate of pay as you currently have (modulo a regional pay adjustment). I would guess that for an 1800 sq ft place, you would be paying close to $4000/month in that neighborhood.

[senthil_soms]

4000$ for a 1800 SQ Ft? That's tooooo much and not at all affordable for me.. I guess I have to forget my dreams about SF Bay Area and think something practically possible

Thanks Folks

[mdwstrnkid]

Originally Posted by senthil_soms

4000$ for a 1800 SQ Ft? That's tooooo much and not at all affordable for me.. I guess I have to forget my dreams about SF Bay Area and think something practically possible

Thanks Folks

If you are open to a smaller place, there are places that are cheaper than $4K/month. However, you will pay a premium for homes that are located in good school districts (Palo Alto, Cupertino, etc.).

Check out Craigslist for a sample of the current rental market (filtered on 3BR+ in Palo Alto).

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/a...drooms=3&nh=83

[topgear]

Originally Posted by senthil_soms

4000$ for a 1800 SQ Ft? That's tooooo much and not at all affordable for me.. I guess I have to forget my dreams about SF Bay Area and think something practically possible

Thanks Folks

Sentill you could do east bay area , for much less , sacrifice a little quality of life but still be a short hop from any job location. Do a hit on craigslist.org under rent, and look up east bay.

[Wintermomma]

I would concur to look around sfbay.craigslist.org to get an idea of the cost of housing.

We have recently made this move. And I will also agree that very very few companies interviewed with, here or elsewhere, offered relocation packages. And though we did get one, and it wasn't skimpy, it still didn't cover everything. But like a PPer said, it got us here and with a foot in the door hopefully towards a good future.

As for housing, we ended up in a "top school district" though our kids will go to private and while nice, I don't think our neighborhood is grand and prices seem to be listed at over $1 mil, selling just under. We're renting.