Planning to Move to the Bay Area But Can't Decide Where! Help?! (San Jose: 2013, rent)

[Local123]

We are in the Cambrian Park area and we love it. We are 1 mile from downtown Campbell which is growing and getting better and better. We ride our bikes downtown (Campbell) with the kids to go to the trails, play in the park, grab dinner, music in the park etc. We are also about 2.5 miles from downtown Los Gatos which is nice. Union and Cambrian schools districts are great and there are plenty of activities for kids in the area. It's not cheap, you'll pay close to a million for anything over 2000 sf) but it's not as expensive as LG and Saratoga. A 3 bedroom rental will be over 3k but it won't be as bad as some of the surrounding areas.

[pixie77]

Thank you, Local123. We will be renting for now perhaps after a couple of years we can decided whether we'll stay there for good or not. I will keep what you send in mind.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

Nods. I'm just changing my tactics lately. I'm trying to go for a more low key tone

I was thinking reverse psychology...

[easybay]

Hi Pixie, As someone who moved to the Bay Area 3 years ago, and now I'm moving away, there are a couple of things for you to consider before you make the big decision. There are a couple of threads on this forum that go into great lengths about the high cost of living (and thus a lower standard of living) that you should read. We moved from Texas and it HURT to pay the high state income tax here, seeing that you are moving from Florida, I hope you are budgeting for that. You don't mention whether you have pets- if you do it's TOUGH here to find rentals that accept pets, be prepared to pay higher security deposits and monthly rents. Also, when we rented, we needed first, last, and security deposit, when we signed the lease. For you that might be up to $9,000. You said you wanted a newer house. We found a town home built in 2007 (that was 3 years ago)for $2800, and it was 1650 sq ft. It was in the westgate area of San Jose- so good public schools. The town homes are SMALL here, just be prepared to lower your expectations. Craigslist is where to go to find rentals, best of luck, you will find new definitions of "updated" and "immaculate"!!!

[never-more]

Originally Posted by easybay

Hi Pixie, As someone who moved to the Bay Area 3 years ago, and now I'm moving away, there are a couple of things for you to consider before you make the big decision. There are a couple of threads on this forum that go into great lengths about the high cost of living (and thus a lower standard of living) that you should read. We moved from Texas and it HURT to pay the high state income tax here, seeing that you are moving from Florida, I hope you are budgeting for that. You don't mention whether you have pets- if you do it's TOUGH here to find rentals that accept pets, be prepared to pay higher security deposits and monthly rents. Also, when we rented, we needed first, last, and security deposit, when we signed the lease. For you that might be up to $9,000. You said you wanted a newer house. We found a town home built in 2007 (that was 3 years ago)for $2800, and it was 1650 sq ft. It was in the westgate area of San Jose- so good public schools. The town homes are SMALL here, just be prepared to lower your expectations. Craigslist is where to go to find rentals, best of luck, you will find new definitions of "updated" and "immaculate"!!!

Agreed.


to the OP: if your searching for rentals online, I suggest you drop your filtering settings to two bedrooms. Space is a premium around here. Just curious but besides the South Bay, would you consider the "Tri-Valley." (see: Tri-Valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). You'll get a better deal for your money due to the lower housing costs, be somewhat closer to Tahoe, Reno, and Napa, and less smog (though it gets a lot hotter in the inland valleys) Or maybe Walnut Creek?

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I was thinking reverse psychology...

That too. It doesn't really seem to work though, so I might have to go back to my bombastic former way

[pixie77]

Thank you for our reply Easybay, appreciate it. We are aware of the high cost of living, I have friends and relatives there. Coming from New York originally, we used to pay state income tax, it is one of those things that we are seriously thinking about. New York's state income is less than CA for our income bracket. This will hurt us if we move there, that's why we are carefully planning for this and working out the numbers. We cannot have a dog or a cat as my daughter and myself have asthma, I am particularly allergic to dog and cat hair. As for the rental, we have an idea about this as we are renting out our home in New York. This is the reason also why we set our max budget at 3,000. We lowered our expectations when we started thinking of moving to CA. We calculated our would be budget deficit just in case. Thank you for warning me about the new definitions.

Honestly, the biggest pull for us to move is the climate. We love New York but we dont want to shovel snow anymore or experience the very humid/hot summers. It is the same here in SW Florida very humid. We also like the fact that it is easy to go to the mountains as well as the ocean. I don't know how my husband's golf life will fare there but I would like to assume that it should be fine but perhaps more expensive than Florida. More than anything else it just boils down to climate and that's one reason we considered Fremont because its nearer the bay.

[pixie77]

Hi never-more. How far will the tri-valley be from Santa Clara County? My friend wants me to apply for a job with her company located in Sunnyvale, would the commute be horrible? Whats in the tri-valley that would make someone consider living there aside from lower rent? I am looking into Alameda county as 1 poster suggested, however I am always concerned about the commute to Santa Clara county. I read in other posts that public transportation is not very efficient. We would like to be at least 30 mins away in terms of commuting from my workplace if ever. I was used to the very efficient public transportation in NY and now in SW Florida it takes me 30-35 minutes drive to work each way when the snowbirds are here and this is the worse that it can get. I will look into these places and would appreciate if you can elaborate a little bit more about those places.

[never-more]

Originally Posted by pixie77

Hi never-more. How far will the tri-valley be from Santa Clara Coun, ty? My friend wants me to apply for a job with her company located in Sunnyvale, would the commute be horrible? Whats in the tri-valley that would make someone consider living there aside from lower rent? I am looking into Alameda county as 1 poster suggested, however I am always concerned about the commute to Santa Clara county. I read in other posts that public transportation is not very efficient. We would like to be at least 30 mins away in terms of commuting from my workplace if ever. I was used to the very efficient public transportation in NY and now in SW Florida it takes me 30-35 minutes drive to work each way when the snowbirds are here and this is the worse that it can get. I will look into these places and would appreciate if you can elaborate a little bit more about those places.

Tri-Valley has a higher standard of living (schools, housing, people, culture) for a lot less money. However, if your going to work in Sunnyvale, your commute will be complicated. 680 has a reputation for being badly congested. However, if your friend lives in Sunnyvale itself, what you could do is drive to an ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) station, take the train to San Jose Diridon Station, then go on to Caltrain and head to Sunnyvale Station, where your friend could pick you up.

Being that if you want to work in Sunnyvale, it will be a good place to live for your budget. It's has a small, but acceptable downtown with a few restaurants and stores. Nice community as well. And it's right next to Mountain View (which has a much better downtown), and not that far from Palo Alto and Stanford Shopping Center. School wise, if your zoned to Cupertino Middle School and Homestead High School, your good. Can't say anything about elementary schools as there's too many. I've checked Zillow, and it can be done with your budget.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Definitely live close to work. Sunnyvale is safe. So is Santa Clara, where I live, which is next to Sunnyvale. Affordable and safe, might be a little cheaper than Sunnyvale.

But the trick to living happily in the Bay Area, is to live where you work. Commuting makes life hell. But traveling somewhere outside of commute hours is fine. In other words, you can live/work in Sunnyvale, and visit San Francisco, etc., on your off hours.