San Francisco Bay Area Apartment Hunt

[brooklyngirl]

Hello everyone

I''m in need of advice from San Francisco/Bay Area PSers!

FI and I are moving from Brooklyn to San Jose in July, and we''re here for the rest of the week apartment hunting. Only problem is that neither of us has ever had to apartment hunt, and although we''ve started out by looking at craiglist, and google, I feel overwhelmed already

. I''m not sure how things work here, but in NY there is ample opportunity to rent an apartment from an individual -- but here, all I seem to come up with are apartment complexes. I like them (on paper -- we haven''t seen any yet), but they seem very expensive, and I am wondering if I could do better with something in an apartment building.

FI will be working in Milpitas, and I''m not sure where I''ll be working yet, so I was thinking somewhere between San Francisco and Milpitas We''re looking for a 2 bed, 2 bath unfurnished apartment that allows (large) pets (see my avatar

). So far we''ve seen apartments between 1900 to 2300. Does this sound right to you? Does anyone have any suggestions as to what else we should be doing?

Thanks a bundle!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Hey - welcome (soon) to the area

I think the price range you are getting is pretty reasonable for this area - rents are pretty pricey, as is everything else related to having a roof over your head

In terms of complexes vs. individual owners, I really think that it can either way, but know that a miserable landlord can really make or break your whole experience out here. I''m not familiar with the rent control and tenant protection laws outside San Francisco proper, but you should make sure that you are for any city you are looking in. My DH and I moved out here together in 2004 (I grew up around here but obviously wasn''t renting then), and we''ve lived in 4 places with 3 different landlords (two apartments in the same building).

Two of them were horrible - one individual owner (actually a husband and wife) and one was a large complex handled by a management company. They were absolute nightmares. Our current apartment (our second in this building) has fantastic landlords - another married couple, but they are professional and sweet and generally wonderful to work with. They own a realty company and have several buildings that they rent as well. So its kind of in between an individual and a big company.

Anyway, that was kind of long and rambling, but the bottom line is really to pay close attention to your gut feeling about the landlords or the managers themselves, as well as being very familiar with tenant protection laws, just in case.

Good luck with the search and with your move - its a lovely area to live in

 

[mia1181]

I don''t know that I can be much help since I am still very new to the area since moving from Buffalo, NY a bit more than 2 years ago.

But I have to say that my fiancee and I live in a decent apartment complex and we have a small dog. We have been trying to look for a privately owned apartment to rent because we feel that we could probably get more square footage for less money, but our dog has been the deal breaker. It seems not a lot of landlords are willing to discuss pets, even though ours is small and we always mention that we''ll pay extra. Complexes are nice because they are more likely to allow pets.

But that has been our experience, we are super picky about the neighborhoods we will live in too though.

I think halfway between SF and Milpitas is probably Palo Alto/Menlo Park? There should be a bunch of apartments around there because of Stanford.

 

[brooklyngirl]

AmberGretchen, mia1181,

Thanks for the tips. I did get an inkling our doggie would be a bit of a problem. I saw a lot of adds that say only small dogs (<25 lbs), but our Bender is closer to 60. I was hoping they would be willing to negotiate on that if they allow small dogs. But I guess that''s not going to be easy.

I hope FI mentioned to the realtor that our dog isn''t exactly small

.

BTW, since the subject of neighborhoods came up, are there any that we should avoid?

 

[ringster]

congrats on your FI''s new job and your upcoming move! i would suggest that you get a short-term lease until you figure out where your job will be. it''s a long drive from milpitas to san francisco, so if you do get a job as far away as SF, you''d prob want to find something midway like in san mateo.

also since you have a dog, another option you might look into is renting a house. i have found that people renting houses tend to be more open to bigger dogs.

can the HR at your FI''s new job provide any help with your search?

i haven''t had to look for housing in the bay area for awhile but if i had to, i would look at craigslist and maybe one of the online rental agencies. the SF chronicle has classifieds online that have rental listings as well.

best of luck with your search!

 

[brooklyngirl]

Hi ringester

That''s a great idea about the house. I will let your real estate agent know we want to look at houses as well. I''ll definitely see what we can find in the san mateo area.
FI''s HR is providing a real estate agent, but I''m looking myself as well.

How is the public transportation in this area? Are the trains a viable option for getting from San Jose to San Francisco, or is driving a necessity?

 

[ringster]

Date: 5/29/2008 2:01:36 PM
Author: brooklyngirl
Hi ringester

That's a great idea about the house. I will let your real estate agent know we want to look at houses as well. I'll definitely see what we can find in the san mateo area.

FI's HR is providing a real estate agent, but I'm looking myself as well.

How is the public transportation in this area? Are the trains a viable option for getting from San Jose to San Francisco, or is driving a necessity?

you can also look near mountain view/redwood city area. caltrain is the main way to get from SJ to SF or anywhere on the peninsula. whether you drive or not depends alot on where you job will be because the issue tends to be trying to get from the train station to your office. if it is in SF, then there are options but if not, it can be more difficult.

have you thought of subletting? i'm not sure how long you think it will take you to find a job but subletting might give you some time to get the job and check out the different areas. craigslist is a great place to find sublets. i sublet my old apt using it - although i did not post - i just searched for people who were looking for sublets because the rent on my place was so cheap, i knew i would get too many responses. i ended up giving the lease to my subletters when i got engaged - they got a great rent controlled apt in the SF! so you might want to also post that you are looking for a sublet. never know!

so, if you don't think you will get a job immediately, i would find a sublet near milpitas. that way if your new job is near there, no prob, and if it is in SF then you know to start looking for a new place in between. be sure to ask your new job if they have shuttles from the train station to the office complex.

 

[Gypsy]

Well, I work in San Jose just by Milpitas. I live in an apartment community owned by Avalon Properties. And they have lovely apartments. Avalon Campbell and Avalon Fremont are two very nice ones. They have other communities in the area, and they cost a little less than these two, but those are my favorites. Archstone is another group that has nice apartments.

Avalon is very pet friendly as well. They will even pet sit for you if you need them too.

I'm very happy with our apartments. And the price is okay. Not super high, but not low either.

Oh, just saw you are looking on the penninsula... Avalon has a lot of properties there too ... I've never been to them. But the reason I recommend them is because of their pet policy and their service. We've been quite happy.

 

[mia1181]

Gypsy, would you also recommend she look in the east bay? I don''t really know much about that area, but its pretty accessible from Milipitas, no?

I live in the Archestone apartments in Redwood Shores. They are very pet friendly, and we haven''t had any problems with service, etc. But the main reason we live here is the neighborhood is pretty nice and somewhat secluded.

As for public transportation:
Her is the train service- http://www.caltrain.com/
I''m not sure how far down it goes, but there are probably buses that can get you to the train station.

What about getting a short lease near Milipitas until you get to know the area and know where you''ll be working?

 

[ringster]

Date: 5/29/2008 3:06:37 PM
Author: mia1181
Gypsy, would you also recommend she look in the east bay? I don''t really know much about that area, but its pretty accessible from Milipitas, no?


I live in the Archestone apartments in Redwood Shores. They are very pet friendly, and we haven''t had any problems with service, etc. But the main reason we live here is the neighborhood is pretty nice and somewhat secluded.


As for public transportation:

Her is the train service- http://www.caltrain.com/

I''m not sure how far down it goes, but there are probably buses that can get you to the train station.


What about getting a short lease near Milipitas until you get to know the area and know where you''ll be working?

mia, i would not recommend east bay if her FI is working in milpitas and she is going to work in SF or anywhere along the peninsula. the traffic on that side is really bad. or if east bay, i wouldn''t go further than fremont. and busing system is horrible anywhere but SF and even there some areas are better than others. i would try to avoid any bus in the commute.

i agree with you on the short lease near milpitas.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Good point Ringster about the shorter term options - definitely figure out what your commute will be (i.e. where it will be too) before committing to a long term lease. Commutes in this area can be really nasty, and so you''ll want to really try to minimize it if possible and/or make sure that trains are a viable option, depending on where you find a job.

For what its worth, my DH has found it easier to do a "reverse" commute - i.e. we live in SF and he commutes out of it to the Peninsula, and he says the traffic is almost always worse in the other direction.

Also, any apartment complex you are considering, Google it as much as you can first. I know it sounds obvious, but we didn''t do that before we moved into a large complex in San Francisco, and boy were we sorry! It was horrible - college kids all over the place making noise and messes at all hours of the day and night, disrespect for property, garbage left in common areas, and a nightmare administration who would lose rent checks, post illegal eviction notices, etc...

And if we had searched online, we would have at least had an inkling that that might be a problem based on some of the reviews out there.

 

[Gypsy]

If she's in the city proper? Well, Fremont has a Bart that goes straight into SF. And it's about 15 minute to drive to Milpitas. So yeah, actually I would say Fremont would work. She'd have an hour commute, but really... she's going to have that or close to it most places. And Fremont is more affordable than penninsula. Avalon Fremont is pretty close to the Fremont Bart... but Watermark Place is closer and still nice (although I don't think their management is as good as ours).

I WOULD NOT get an apartment in Milpitas. Milpitas is right across from a 2 sewage treatments plants and it STINKS (like you can't get out of your car) there unless you are ALL THE WAY over north of 237 and near 680... and even then. When the wind blows ICK. And if you go near the Great Mall in Milpitas... there is a Jail. Lovely town Milpitas. I would NOT live there. Fremont or San Jose over here. Not Milpitas, no way. And the rents are NOT discounted, they are HIGHER.

If she's working on the penninsula? Then no, I wouldn't live in the east bay. I know people who do... but they have homes and families and so forth. If you are renting... no way.

 

[ringster]

i don''t know much about living in milpitas but santa clara is nice (they have their own power grid!) - lots of houses there, parts of SJ are ok too, sunnyvale, campbell, cupertino and mountain view would be good to look into as well.