Rose Selavy

Hi everyone

new to this forum but have already found some great information on other topics so here is my question.

Is there a good/better time to search for a 1-2y rental in Palo Alto/Menlo Park meaning: a time of the year that there is no huge competition, more properties available, lower rates etc. I know there are seasonal factors like start of school year, new jobs , academic seasons etc and this is what I need to find out for this particular area.

I have the option to move NOW (November-December) or after baby arrives when we are both ready to fly. That would be May earliest.

I will be moving with my family of 3 (and one due in Feb) and have spent several weeks familiarising with the area already. During one of my visits I tested the waters a bit with housing and was shocked to see how competitive the market is and how few options there are not to mention the prices of course. I went around several open house viewings and witnessed a phenomenon which really scared me especially given the low standard of the houses. Dozens and dozens of people turning up and queuing all of them interested and then packs of registration forms to be considered for the property according to your Credit Score (which by the way we don't have!). Someone said it is because of the new school period and families wanting to move closer to the good schools. No idea about US school times anyway so that could be a good question to ask I guess.
If it helps to know I will be looking for a 3 bed house with a garden and budget is 5-6K pcm.

Thanks in advance! All and any advice is very welcome.

Bob

I couldn't say specific to the area, but the best times usually are within a few weeks after schools end for the summer, till within a few weeks of schools starting at the end of summer.

Mostly because people who move around, with families, who rent those homes, tend to move for job opps, or whatever reason after kids are done with school. Same for finding apartments with uni term time, but seems to be less houses, though you never know, could find some of those too where students sub let the rooms out.

But even in the time, competition for a house will always be high and it will always be high.

As you've got no credit history, your best bet is finding a private owner and offering to put down a larger deposit, simply because they don't have to take the risk nor bother look through info you give them that they don't understand when they have 20 people paying a application fee for the rental already.

Depending how competitive the area is, you might want to budget anything from 1-3 months worth of rent as a deposit with the first and last months rent all due at signing. Also if you're using a realtor to help find a place, you might have to pay anything from 1-3 months worth of rent as a fee. This is something a landlord would pay in a none competitive market, but when there's competition, they pass that cost on to you and depending on how little stock there is has an affect on what the realtor asks for a fee.

jackattack

If you have small kids (i.e. under school age) then renting outside of the best school districts will definitely get you more house for your $. If you're only going to be there for a couple of years and schools don't really matter (you'll be paying for private schools if you want your kids to go to nursery anyway), then there is generally less competition where the school district is slightly less top notch. Mountain View and Redwood City are both reasonable school districts but without the super competitive parents trying to get their kids into Palo Alto and Menlo schools.

That being said, $5-6k should be able to get you a 3 bed house in most places.

Rose Selavy

That's a great tip! Thanks! I heard of someone offering their company's shares to compensate for lack of credit history and entice the owner but it's not something we could do! Large deposit we could do though.

Rose Selavy

jackattack you are so right about avoiding the top notch school areas. We won't need them for another couple of years anyway.
My problem is that I have come to know these areas pretty well and made friends during my visits and it makes me feel more comfortable and in control to know exactly where to go with a 3yo and a newborn without driving on 101 constantly (which I did when I stayed in Belmont once). I guess its not a great reason but it makes me feel more at ease with the move. $4K is our ideal budget but it seems unrealistic in those areas this is why I am trying to avoid any kind of peak times in the housing market.

N1cky

We've moved in the area twice within the last 2 years. The market seems to have gone crazy in that time. Our first move wasn't too bad, we looked at around 20 houses with minimal people around. When we had to move again last year, it took me 4 months to find somewhere, and I too experienced what you are describing. I have a couple of friends who have also gone through the same experience, all at different times of the year.

Although, I understand you saying you are familiar with PA and Menlo Park, you would get much, much more for your money in Mountain View, or even Los Altos, which are both just 10 minutes along El Camino or Central.

jackattack

Friends of mine (Brits) with three kids came here on a company transfer. His work paid for a real estate agent to help them find housing. From what I could tell, their budget was also roughly $5k per month. They said the house hunting was insane. Their agent would take them to a place to view which often had an open house, and when some families at the open house realised that they had an agent with them, these people would follow the agent in their cars to the next house. CRAZY!

My husband was trying to persuade us to move from our (owned) house on the coast to rent a house closer work and school (ie Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos etc). But when I saw what was available and the price, combined with the fact that we have a dog, I quickly realised that we were not the ideal tenants and the search would be a nightmare. So I gave up and we're doing the ridiculous commute, for now at least.

Rose Selavy

Ok so others have nightmare stories too, it was not just my bad luck or time of the year. And I thought London is a crazy city but no! not in that way. I never had a viewing with other people at the same time and have I moved many times in my life? Oh yes I have!

N1cky I have thought long and hard about other options including Los Altos, Belmont etc even spent a week in 7 different towns in the Bay but I don't think I will survive anywhere without sidewalks for more than a week. The change from Central London to SF BAy suburbia is already shocking to a city girl. I am trying to preserve some of my basic lifestyle principles here i.e. car-free as much as possible, friends close-by etc

Thank you all for your feedback, it looks like things are random and I cant be as strategic as I wanted...

N1cky

I'm not tring to change your mind and understand your view on Belmont. However Los Altos and MV (there are others) both have busy high streets and nearly all the neighborhoods have sidewalks. In the last house in MV I walked to and from school, walked to the supermarket for bits and bobs, and walked downtown for meals out... I hardly used my car.

Rose Selavy

Sounds like I should have researched a bit more those areas but I was unlucky to land in terrible accommodation there (L Altos was up in the hills in the middle of nowhere and MV an awful condo next to the Highway) so I literally run away and towards midtown/downtown PA which I liked and made friends quickly, walked a lot etc.
So now I am scared to rent something outside the areas I know best and be stuck with a bad choice for months. Maybe I should open up my choices a bit.

Can you mention any particular area worth checking in MV? Is Castro City one or Old Town MV?

N1cky

Sounds like you stayed in Los Altos Hills, which is different to Los Altos, I would encourage you to take a look at their downtown. Any rentals that are walk able will tell you do. Also check out www.walkscore.com this will give you an idea how walk able any address is.

MV, old town is lovely and has the most desirable houses, other nice areas and walk able are Cuesta Park and Waverley Park. We currently live at Whisman Station which is walkable to the local school and has a little tram that runs to downtown, there are a couple of Parks and pools on site.

Also, just incase you don't know, avoid East Palo Alto it is not Palo Alto and is the worst place to live in the Bay Area

Rose Selavy

Yes it was Lost Altos Hills as I call it now! not the downtown
Great link the walkscore thanks so much! And going to check those areas right now, it really helps to have some recommendation and not go blind.

And East Palo Alto?? Have stayed there too although it was a condo very close to the IKEA shopping complex so quite safe if you stayed in with closed windows after 9pm. I could still see loads of suspicious activity from my 2nd floor bedroom window

Thanks again!

N1cky

yes I can see why you would call it that.

I always think that must be the worst location for a Four Seasons Hotel anywhere, all the lovely areas around here and they plonk it in EPA opposite Ikea, you'd be thrilled paying your $600 a night there. I bet someone got their arse kicked over that one.

Zenith Blue

Hi, I'm staying in Mountain View, and it's actually not that bad a place to live. There are great parks, the transport options are pretty good, the downtown is fun without being ott, and it's nowhere near as expensive as Palo Alto, which is still only a short drive/train ride away. We came to MV because we just couldn't afford PA. A quick look on Craigslist tells me that 2 and 3 bedroom houses can be found for less than $4000 a month, and apartments for a lot less than that too.

In my house hunting experience when moving here, most rentals are for six months initially, so maybe it's worth coming and giving it a try and learning about the area? If you hate it you can always move on.

If you want to know anything specific about the area feel free to PM me and I'll help if i can

dlake02

I'm in Santa Clara and rent has gone up over 20% in a year.

House prices are simply bezerk; my mortgage broker friend told me that 90% of buyers at the moment are cash buyers. Banks are very unwilling to lend - I was told at least 30% deposit and that having a mortgage rather than cash would put me at a disadvantage.

Santa Clara is not as expensive - we're in a 1600sq town home with no garden and pay around $3300/month. Asking price for the house we're in is around $900k. Next-door-but-two just sold for $1.5m - $2000 sq ft and fifteen cash buyers queuing up. Sold in 2 days.

Get out a little way into the nicer areas (Los Gatos, Saratoga, Palo Alto, etc) and you are in funny money.

Some of the Tech companies are currently offering 2 year-paid rental/mortgage and arranging mortgages for incomers if they sign their soul to the devil, etc.

Watch the public schools - you can go from good to dire very quickly.

And if you think of private schools, Harker (one of the more popular K-12 in Saratoga) is currently around $32,000/child/year.

At some point, the bubble here will burst and there will be an awful lot of people covered in the brown stuff....