CKB40

My husband and I, with our two kids are looking at moving to Silicon Valley, possible the Los Gatos/ Los Altos/ Saratoga area, with my husbands business.

I have looked into schools and rentals, but can anyone give me an idea of cost of living / bills, so we can have an idea of what our out goings will be.

Housing will be taken care of, but what can we expect to pay on average for electricity, water, trash, are there any local taxes etc.

We are looking to rent a four bedroom house.

Thanks.

md95065

It's hard to give useful averages - gas and electricity are both billed monthly and you will probably find that your usage will vary a lot with the seasons - my combined gas and electricity bill can be as low as $70 a month in summer when no heating is required and air conditioning is not necessary and as high as $300 for the coldest month in winter.

Note that gas, electricity and water are charged at different rates depending on how much you use and, no, you don't get a discount for quantity - the rates go up considerably once you exceed the so called "baseline" usage.

Garbage collection is unlikely to be more than $20 or $30 per month.

Much more significant will be your cell phone bills, cable tv and internet and auto insurance.

Sancho_p

Although not in Silicon Valley, amongst the bills we pay in NV are: HOA Fees currently $201/mo, sewage charge $140/year, local taxes $540/year, cable TV $62/mo and as already mentioned gas & electric

Michael

Housing costs are by far the biggest issue in the Silicon Valley since it is way above the national average especially the areas you are talking about. If you can either pay for housing or your employer will pay for housing in those areas, then the rest is a piece of cake.

California has tighter controls on gasoline then the federal government so because of additives and other state regulations, gasoline is about 40 cents per gallon higher than the national average.

Property taxes (paid by the landlord) along with part of the approximately 8.5% sales tax (can vary slightly between cities) on non food items covers local government government spending. Besides federal income tax and FICA (social security and medicare taxes), the only other taxes you will need to worry about will be state income tax and annual car registration tax which varies up to about about $500 per year per car depending on the value of the car (will be higher for very expensive cars). Normally the FICA tax is 7.65% paid on incomes up to $110,000 but this year that has been reduced to 5.65% and it may be reduced further next year to try to stimulate the economy. As an expatriate, you should have the option to pay a similar foreign tax instead for up to 5 years.

Because of the very mild climate in the Silicon Valley, air conditioning is not that common if you live in a house and the exposure is right. It is much more common in apartments or condos since heat from other apartments and large exterior walls as well as exposure heats up the apartment during the summer. For example when I was living on top of the Fremont foot hills in a 2,100 sf townhouse, I did not have air conditioning and had a northern exposure and my spring/summer/fall average utility bill was less than $80 monthly and the home was a cool 65 degrees fahrenheit during the day. However because of that same northern exposure, my heating bills skyrocketed to as high as $300 per month during the coldest winter months. Now I am living in a 1,700 sf condo in downtown San Jose and I need the air conditioning on some days during the summer bringing my utility bill (all electric) to as much as $120 in some summer months. During the winter I seldom turn on the heat and my utility bill drops to less than $50 monthly. Because of the summer fog coming down the bay overnight and burning off by the time you awake, that cools the houses over night. Typically about once during the summer, that cycle is broken and a heat wave occurs for about 5 days that you wish that you had air conditioning in a house that doesn't have it. Evey evening during the summer, you see that big fog bank slowly rolling down the bay and if it doesn't occur, you should get worried since the south bay will heat up.

Water, sewage, and trash pickup is so cheap that it isn't worth discussing but that is usually covered by your rent and the landlord pays it.

Food is generally more expensive in the bay area than other places in the US. Other costs can be estimated from the following following link.

So overall, other than housing, gasoline, and food costs, other things are generally very reasonable and savings can be made because of heating and cooling costs.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...ec_id=m1025820

Bob

Hard to answer because it all depends on where you live and how far of a commute and age of kids etc.

Ball park numbers, cable/phone/internet packages tend to be around the $100 a month for a package.

Car insurance, if you're paying around $1000 a year for half decent coverage you're doing well and anything less is a bonus.

It's the hidden charges that'll get you, especially initially.

Having no credit history, you'll more than likely be asked to pay a deposit for any/all utilities, which can be anything from $50-500 to get things hooked up.

Check out the DMV for cost of getting a car on the road, the title/registration/inspection/sales tax/town excise rate/plates etc...all depends on the state and sometimes the county.

Schooling, well if you aren't going private, you'll still be expected to "pay" for a lot of things, sports activities, other after school activities, donations of this and that for supplies which can add up too.

jackattack

I agree with Michael, that if your husband's employer is willing to put you in a 4 bedroom house in Saratoga/Los Altos/Los Gatos then you're styling and you should focus your efforts on understanding costs associated with healthcare, communication, tax and insurance. I'd estimate that the cost to rent would be at least $4000 per month for those areas. I wish that my employer would stump up the cash for that; we looked to move to those areas last year and had to have a change of plan since it's certainly not cheap (now we're building a house there instead).

Make sure that you check school boundaries on each specific house that you're looking at before you sign anything since the house address is tied to the schools that your kids will go to. Some houses may have an address of Los Gatos but be in the Campbell school district for example, or have the address of Saratoga but be in the Cupertino school district - this will make the rental price quite a bit cheaper.

Nothing to add on the monthly costs since others have done so except that some of the figures seem quite low compared to what I am paying/have experienced. Two things spring to mind - depending on exactly where the house is, what direction it faces and when it was built can have a big impact on your need to use air conditioning. It can get HOT down here. And secondly, if you have a gorgeous house with really nice gardens, a pool and a green grassy lawn, then the house owner may want you to continue watering the landscape. Not only is this not particularly eco-friendly, it can get costly on the old water bill.

penguinsix

This is an important point. There are some very highly ranked schools in this area and some schools that are pretty intense. Cupertino schools were in the news in recent years due to a large influx of Asian students who have rather rigorous academics and what was called "white flight" of parents moving to other districts. You should check the school districts for the locations you are looking to rent as, more or less, schools are assigned by your street address (with some exceptions).

http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/t...hiteflight.htm

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/What_d...s_in_school%3F

Michael

Exposure is very important but of course you also need decent insulation. At night the temperatures get down into the 50s during the summer and this cools the house down to the very low 60s but if the exposure is not right, the house can heat back up quickly. If you have a northern exposure with trees or another house to the west to block the sun, that will be the best exposure against the hot afternoon sun. In my case in Fremont, I had the northern exposure into my living with a massive number of windows to the west but trees and the next townhouse blocked the majority of the afternoon sun. I currently have a western exposure in my condo and the afternoon sun comes though the windows. The people across from me with the eastern exposure have much less of a problem with heat during the summer.

In most cases, we are not talking about very high temperatures in the afternoon (typically 75-85 degrees with low humidity) but the sun beating though the windows can heat a place up quickly (never an overcast during the summer).

If you have a pool, expect your utility bills to skyrocket during the summer.

Jscl

We live in a four bedroom house on the cheaper side of San Jose, rent is $2800 a month. I know you said your employer is taking care of that, but, well, make sure they actually are, and you're not misunderstanding, as that's \i{really} rare. Most employers offer the first month paid while you look for a permanent place, if that.

Also, if they are giving you free housing, make sure you figure that in estimating your taxes. Most likely although you won't receive cash it will be considered taxable income. At $3K minimum on that side of town, that's tax on another $36K you'll have to come up with, both Federal and State.

Other bills we pay:
Internet $35
Gas & Electric $60-130 depending on the weather (AC or heat)
Water & Garbage $35-$60 depending on weather (watering lawn)
Cable/Satellite $50-$150 depending on your plan
Garden maintenance $40

No experience of schools but I see others have mentioned that.

CKB40

Thanks for all your replies, they have been very helpful.

Yes, we are lucky that the company will pay for rental for the duration of our relocation. Also great advise regarding schools, I will make sure to check rental address with the school districts.

Can anyone offer any advise on medical and dental costs / insurance?

Thanks again

penguinsix

Health insurance for a relatively healthy family of four can be $1,000-$1,400 a month or more. Honestly it's so dependent on your own personal situation and family history that we can't give you an exact number.

However, the real issue is how much of it will be subsidized by your employer. In Silicon Valley it used to be the norm that health insurance was paid entirely by the employer, but that's fallen by the wayside more and more. Have you talked to the company HR to get an estimate from them? Probably the easiest and most effective answer.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Health_Insurance

Michael

The following map is a school performance map of the area (currently set to elementary schools). As you can see from the performance map, all the schools within Saratoga, Los Gatos, and Los Altos are dark blue which are in the top ranking of 10 out of 10. If you click on a symbol, it will tell you the name of that school and the school district in which it resides and if you click on the CDE link, it will give you a whole lot of information about that school. If you go to the web site for that school district, you should be able to find area maps for that school district which will indicate the exact boundaries that you must reside in to attend a specific school.

As was stated earlier, there are a lot of Tiger Moms in the Cupertino school district so you will likely want to stay away from that school district. It is a very high ranking school district but very competitive possibly giving your kids an inferiority complex if they can't ace all tests and are not straight A students.

http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...19403%2C11%2C1