Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-12-2012, 06:14 PM
 
Location: earth?
7,284 posts, read 12,888,699 times
Reputation: 8956

Advertisements

Rent in Mountain View.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-13-2012, 12:04 AM
 
865 posts, read 1,821,396 times
Reputation: 525
Quote:
Originally Posted by StandingRoomOnly View Post
Commuting by car is much more stressful than sitting in a train to work...IMO.
I agree. We moved for a 25 minute commute which turned out to actually be more like 40 ish in the AM (IN the carpool lane) and it's wearing on me. I really wouldn't consider that a good quality of life, to be even farther. Having said that, I think you can commute via Caltrain from Morgan Hill to Mountain View - no? It is SUPER SUPER slow, though, if you don't catch the baby bullets or limited stop. I don't think the bullet goes to Morgan Hill, but the limited stop at least does.

I second, or third the suggestion to rent. You really can't know an area until you live there for a bit.

Good Luck!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 12:05 AM
 
Location: Santa Clara
240 posts, read 476,923 times
Reputation: 193
You can buy a condo on Middlefield Rd (within the 237-101-85 triangle), 2 bedrooms 2 bath, for less than $400k, keeping in mind there's a HOA fee above that and possibly occasional special assessments. Just thought I'd mention this option. Young families own and rent in these, in about equal proportion (~ 50% ownership). Of course as others have said, renting first IS the best idea.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 06:56 AM
 
30 posts, read 122,994 times
Reputation: 20
Thanks for all the great advice, everyone!

We'll know more in the next 24-48 hours about the type of relocation package the company will be offering, so I guess we'll figure it out from there.

It seems like the absolute floor on a freestanding home is $600Kish, in a decent neighborhood then? I'd been looking at real estate listings in towns within 30-40 miles of Mountain View, and there were plenty in the $400K-$450K range. The general consensus I'm getting is that those places wouldn't be areas to which I'd want to move my family - or am I misinterpretting things?

Thanks again for all your help. What was a no-brainer move for us when we initially were approached with the idea is now becoming a bit more muddied.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 10:24 AM
 
4,307 posts, read 6,240,134 times
Reputation: 6097
Some of the areas 30-40 miles from Mountain View are decent (e.g., Morgan Hill and Livermore), its just that the commute will be hellish and while the schools are ok, they are not top notch. Lots of people do those commutes, but I personally would hate it. I would suppose it would be better if you could telecommute a couple days per week.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 12:00 PM
 
30 posts, read 122,994 times
Reputation: 20
Wow, that's really crazy to me conceptually. 30-40 miles outside of NYC is about average, if not good. There are tons and tons of people who commute from 100+ miles every day via a combination of car and/or mass transit.

Morgan Hill looks interesting, but I think we'd probably rent closer to my wife's offices for a while. Can anyone give a quick estimate for rent in the Moutain View / Sunnyvale / Los Altos / Etc area?

I guess I just need to recalibrate things to figure this connundrum out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 12:08 PM
 
264 posts, read 829,930 times
Reputation: 182
....Around $3500 for a 3 bedroom house...less if you are willing to do a condo or 2 bedroom

Sunnyvale will be the most reasonable so you may be able to find around 2700-3200 average for rent for a house

Last edited by StandingRoomOnly; 03-13-2012 at 12:58 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 01:06 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
10,987 posts, read 20,484,597 times
Reputation: 8261
The absolute floor for a small good condition 3-br house in a nice neighborhood in Sunnyvale is $750.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 02:20 PM
 
Location: McKinney, TX
14 posts, read 47,065 times
Reputation: 25
My wife and I are considering relocating from Dallas to the bay area, and of all the communities we've looked at, Morgan Hill seems to be the best fit in terms of affordability, a less crowded feel, and commute to Mountain View (with access to employer-provided shuttles). We have established a rental budget up to $3,000/mo and are considering freestanding homes and townhomes (no vertically adjacent neighbors). My worry is that MH schools are not highly rated, and if we were to eventually buy a home, we'd either have to be able to afford private school or we'd look at buying in a better school district such as near Los Gatos/Saratoga (we're talking several years out when we've built up enough equity to even afford a downpayment on a home there).

It still amazes me that anybody buys a home in California when you can rent for significantly less money, but I guess that's the "American dream".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-13-2012, 02:50 PM
 
264 posts, read 829,930 times
Reputation: 182
Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronsama View Post
My wife and I are considering relocating from Dallas to the bay area, and of all the communities we've looked at, Morgan Hill seems to be the best fit in terms of affordability, a less crowded feel, and commute to Mountain View (with access to employer-provided shuttles). We have established a rental budget up to $3,000/mo and are considering freestanding homes and townhomes (no vertically adjacent neighbors). My worry is that MH schools are not highly rated, and if we were to eventually buy a home, we'd either have to be able to afford private school or we'd look at buying in a better school district such as near Los Gatos/Saratoga (we're talking several years out when we've built up enough equity to even afford a downpayment on a home there).

It still amazes me that anybody buys a home in California when you can rent for significantly less money, but I guess that's the "American dream".
My husband and I have lived in MH for almost 3 years now and have had the same thought... are schools not that great here? are we going to need to move? ...But after talking with other moms the "great" schools seem to be Paradise or Nordstrom elementary OR charter or private (Stratford). We know two families personally at Paradise that LOVE it (kids actually respect the principal and the principal knows each kid by name) and another at Stratford that loves it. And another has her daughter at the Charter school here and loves it. ... I think it takes looking around for yourself to decide where your kid(s) will do best.

Something interesting-- I recently struck up conversation with a 16 year old who was familiar with quite a few of the high schools in San Jose and nearby areas and she said that some of the "richer" schools (Los Gatos High) often have much more trouble with drugs and bored teens than the "middle of the road" schools. Even the "rich" area schools may have higher test scores...you may be getting your kid in with a bunch of "entitled" rich stuck up kids who have enough money to buy just about anything (drugs included). So...the "best of the best" may not necessarily be the best for your child. Something to keep in mind.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top