Possible relocation from Sacramento to South Bay (San Jose, Fremont: apartment, foreclosure)

[gotpancit]

So the job situation has almost forced us to move. Her job is up in May '12 and that gives us enough time to relocate. Her jobs would be near redwood city, Fremont and surrounding areas. I'd end up working close to Sunnyvale.

How much of a shock should I be expecting when looking for houses/apt to rent? And where should i be looking? What freeways should I avoid for daily commutes?

I have a ton of questions but just want to get some feedback on potential places to start looking. Currently live in Folsom, which is a really nice suburb with great schools in the sacramento region. I'd like to move to something similar. 2 kids 2 dogs 2 incomes.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by gotpancit

So the job situation has almost forced us to move. Her job is up in May '12 and that gives us enough time to relocate. Her jobs would be near redwood city, Fremont and surrounding areas. I'd end up working close to Sunnyvale.

How much of a shock should I be expecting when looking for houses/apt to rent? And where should i be looking? What freeways should I avoid for daily commutes?

I have a ton of questions but just want to get some feedback on potential places to start looking. Currently live in Folsom, which is a really nice suburb with great schools in the sacramento region. I'd like to move to something similar. 2 kids 2 dogs 2 incomes.

Others can probably give you better advice than me since I'm single with no kids and have no commute. But I should definitely warn you...DO NOT expect to be able to afford anywhere near the same kind of house that you have in Folsom (whether buying or renting). It's just not gonna happen.

[gotpancit]

yea for sure. I know we wont get anything close to the size we have in folsom. We'd be good with a postage stamp yard and ~1300 sq ft house...I think.

So doing some quick research, it seems like a lot of the san jose schools are pretty decent and the rent on a typical house just mentioned is ~$2000-2300/mo in milipitas/santa clara.

are there places to steer clear from?

[Freezer41]

i don't really do normal commute hours but 101 gets backed up NB. Santa Clara is pretty nice, don't know about the schools. I'd stay away from Evergreen (San Jose) it takes forever to get to the freeways and Milpitas always seems congested and full of terrible drivers. Cambrian (San Jose) has good schools and quick access to 85 for Sunnyvale and Redwood City.

[roadwarrior101]

We have some friends that live in Folsom. One works for Intel and the other is an attorney. They have a nice newish house in a manicured neighborhood. I think its about 1,800 sq ft and they bought it as a foreclosure 2-3 years ago. I want to say that they paid around $300k.

My wife and I live in Mountain View in a new townhouse. Its about 1,600 sq ft and 3 levels. We paid close to $700k for it 2 years ago and it has already gone up in value about $50k. We both work in the high-tech industry.

Before we owned a place, we rented a 2 bedroom apartment in Mtn View. We paid well over $2,000 per month and the rents have gone up substantially since then.

Our companies do compensate us somewhat for the high cost of living area (I want to say there's about a 15% bump vs the Sacramento area). However, as you can see from a comparison standpoint, much more of our spendable income goes into a house which has shared walls.

Don't get me wrong, there are many other benefits to living here besides financial. And, we could have chosen to live in an area that is a bit cheaper than Mountain View. However, if you're looking at this from a pure cost to income standpoint, the numbers don't add up.

[tinalam]

Redwood City and Fremont are on opposite sides of the bay with Sunnyvale in the middle forming a triangle connected by 101 and 237. 101 NB and 237 WB are packed during morning rush hours. Vice versa for afternoon commute. If your wife works in Redwood City, you may want to live in Redwood City / Menlo Park and you commute south. If she works in Fremont, then you should live in Sunnyvale / Santa Clara and she travels east. There are also more economical choices of housing. It depends on your expectation.

[gotpancit]

Sweet. She just interviewed at a couple of places in the last couple of days and its looking promising that we'll make a move this summer if not earlier. My job is super stable in sac, but I'm due for a change and being a mech engineer there seems to be a lot of opportunity in the bay.

As a side thought, my wife interviewed at a place near google hq and dayum, they own that business park. It's kind of refreshing to see all the start ups in the area too!

[80skeys]

Redwood City for apartment rentals is cheaper than points south by about $200/month. In Sunnvyale/MountainView you're looking at $1900-$2000/month for 900 sq foot 2 bedroom apartment. Subtract $200 off that for Redwood city.

I personally avoid the 101 for commuting. It'd rather take Central Expressway. I also avoid the 237 during rush hours, but outside rush hours it's fine.