Sarg75

Hi everyone. My husband has been offered a job in San Francisco and we hope to move next summer. We are currently in the process of searching for the best affordable area to rent in that has a good school for my 15 year old. My husband would need to travel to Mountain View area a couple of times a week.
If anyone can recommend an area to start looking I would be grateful. Not sure where to start!
Thank you x

mikelincs

One of the first things to get sorted is what visa the company is getting for your husband. Everything else is moot until he finds that out.

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

'Affordable' and 'San Francisco' aren't usually in the same sentence. But we have a lot of forum members on that area, if you can give people an idea of your budget and what sort of property/amenities you'd want for it, I'm sure they'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Best of luck.

Pulaski

As Mike said, "offered a job" can mean several different things - and we see a number of people every year who come here to BE to ask about moving because they have been "offered a job" in the US, only to discover that there is no way for them to get a visa that would allow them to take up the job offer.

For starters, has he been offered a job transfer by his current employer? If so there is a very good chance he will be able to get a visa, and you will be able to to get a visa that will enable you to work, from about three months after you arrive, after you have applied for and received an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

If he has been offered a job unrelated to his current position/employer, is he in academia or research? If so it is likely he will be able to get a visa, but you will be unable to work.

If he has been offered a job in some sort of scientific, technical, or engineering role (or a some other technical occupations), then he won't be able to apply for a visa until next April, and there will likely only be about a one in four chance of him being able to get a visa, and won't be able start work until October 2018; if he is lucky enough to get a visa, your derivative visa will not enable you to work.

So please tell us more and we will be happy to advise.

Twinkle0927

Affordable all depends on what they are paying him.

Pulaski

And what he and his wife want to buy.

To buy a home like we have, and buy the same things that we do, if we lived in SF I would need a seven figure salary. In other words, it is extremely unlikely that anyone would ever pay me enough to persuade me to relocate to SF.

Sarg75

Thanks for your replies. To clarify, my husband's job is a transfer with his current employer for a minimum term of 3 years. We want to rent a 3 bed property, preferably a house rather than an apartment as my son plays the drums! To be close to a good high school is a main priority.
We think our budget will be 3500 to 4000 usd per month but we could possibly increase this for a good school. We are interested in an area within an hours drive of Mountain View.

scrubbedexpat099

Sounds like a L1.

christmasoompa

Thanks for the further info - I'm going to edit your thread title so that those in the SF area will be more likely to look at the thread and see your questions, hopefully they'll be able to suggest some suitable areas that may suit.

Best of luck.

N1cky

You’ll struggle to get a house for that amount of money, and certainly nothing for double that where your house will be far enough away from the neighbors for your son to play the drums.

My daughter is currently 15, no way would I be wanting to do that transition with her at that age. The school system is very different, there are lots of threads on what to do and the changes to be prepared for. MV high has a good reputation, most of my daughters friends go there, and she would have gone there too if we hadn’t insisted on a different school for her. Personally I’m thrilled she’s not there and I certainly wouldn’t put her there now. No chance you’ll get in Palo Alto at that rent price, so forget that school district, Sunnyvale may be an option for you, but you’ll still struggle on the house prices.

S Folinsky

As a long ago resident of the City, I would suggest a title relating to "SF Bay Area."

(It was so long ago I bought my first house in the City for under $50K. The younger generation doesn't believe me. )

Sarg75

Whilst I respect your opinion, we have decided to do this move. I'm asking for area recommendations. According to Zillow rent, there are
3 bed houses in Sunnyvale and Mountain View for around $4000 a month but we know nothing about these areas or the schools. We have spent a long time researching the school system and as I am a teacher, we certainly haven't gone into this blind. We are realistic and would not expect to be able to live somewhere with no neighbours in order for my son to drum. We have a sound-proofed room here in the UK and would do the same in the USA. We expect this would be harder to do in an apartment.
I'm not interested in a reply saying 'no way would I do that' as it isn't helpful. If you could tell me why you didn't want your daughter going to MV high school, that would be far more constructive.
Thank you anyway.

Sarg75

Thank you. Our only option is to rent unless we sell our house in the UK. We may decide to do this at a later date but will rent at first.

S Folinsky

I didn't mean to suggest purchase. I just meant to note that it's been 40 years since I moved back to L.A.

If your home in the UK has appreciated in value, it's sale after coming to the US may have US income tax consequences. This is outside my old legal baliwick, but immigration lawyers would often advise clients to look into this before coming to the US.

Sarg75

Ah ok. Thank you. We will check if we decide to sell.