superpat

Hi - first post - discovered this forum today when searching for info re US tax rates...

Well, my (CA based) employer is shutting down the London team of which I am a member. Rationalisation rather than cost-cutting - the jobs move to bigger sites in the US and India.

So... I applied for my job at the mother-ship in Santa Clara, CA, a few weeks ago and finally got my offer today.

Questions spin round my head...

* Experiences with hanging on to the house back home - letting it out to cover the mortgage?

* Rent or buy??? US colleagues say that now is a good time to buy in the bay area, but I guess it's best to rent for a few months to get the lay of the land?

* Silicon Valley neighbourhoods - I am married with 16 month old toddler son. Any particularly good value places within an hour's commute of Santa Clara?

* Anywhere to avoid, apart from East Palo Alto?

* Any other advice is welcome. Have never lived/worked abroad...

Cheers,

Superpat

P.S. We may be able to bring Marmite/Tea/Whatever for anyone giving useful advice

JulianB

Welcome to Silicon Valley!

I've been here for 3 years and work in Santa Clara. Originally from Doncaster of all places.

* Experiences with hanging on to the house back home - letting it out to cover the mortgage?

I sold my property. Couldn't be doing with all the hassle and worry of keeping it. Did consider letting it out but binned that idea.

* Rent or buy??? US colleagues say that now is a good time to buy in the bay area, but I guess it's best to rent for a few months to get the lay of the land?

Rent. You will have a tough enough time doing that in all honesty, you have no credit rating over here. Your chances of getting a mortgage in the short term are negligible.

* Silicon Valley neighbourhoods - I am married with 16 month old toddler son. Any particularly good value places within an hour's commute of Santa Clara?

I've lived in San Francisco (cool but expensive), Oakland (horrible) and now Daly City. I like it here, takes about 40 mins by car for the commute. Nice and quiet, conveniently close to to the airport and San Francisco.

* Anywhere to avoid, apart from East Palo Alto?

Oakland.

* Any other advice is welcome. Have never lived/worked abroad...

Be happy to answer your questions...perhaps meet up for a beer sometime. Not too many Brits in the Valley, I'm the only one at my company.

Once again, welcome.

Julian.

andyabel

I've been here 5 years. I work in Sunnyvale and live in Cupertino (both less than 6 miles away).
I still own my own house back in Ellesmere Port. It's rented out. You should explore the rental market in your area in the UK. It may be a good option. If you sell in the UK you may have to buy in the US sooner than you want since there are capital gains tax implications. See a good tax lawyer both in the US and UK.
My work group is 50% expat brits so I can ask others any questions you might have.
We're still renting after 5 years. Houses are very expensive here. There is always a lot of debate about rent vs buy in Silicon Valley. It depends how long you intend to stay, and how secure your job is (there are still a lot of redundencies going on here).
Please feel free to ask any other questions. I'll send you my email address privately.
It's very international here so our local Safeway supermarket sells marmite, weetabix, Tetly tea etc. so we don't really need things (but thanks for the thought).
- Andy Abel

Vicky88

We used to live in Sunnyvale, husband worked in San Jose. Quite liked the area.

Re the housing situation, unless you have megabucks think you will be surprised at what you get for your money in Silicone Valley.

Places to live, Los Gatos (or what it Los Altos), Santa Clara, Palo Alto, all looked good to me.

andyabel

Actually, where to live probably depends on your salary.
A single person would probably need to be earning at least $65k pa (probably at least $85k for a family) to live in the South Bay (Los Gatos, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Campbell, Santa Clara, San Jose). You may be able manage on a bit less if you live in Milpitas, South San Jose. Beyond that the house prices drop as the commute increases. These are just my guesses, and will obviously depend upon your lifestyle!

Vicky88

What made me laugh was when we moved to Silicone Valley in 2000 there was a shortage of rental accommodation. Only place we could find that was vacant was reserved for low income earners. Low income being below $79,000, which in most places would be considered a good wage.

andyabel

Things have changed a bit recently. Most rental apartments have at least a 25% vacancy rate (just from walking past and seeing the empty rooms). So you should be able to get a good deal now.
BTW: it's 'Silicon', not 'Silicone' (Sorry, I don't mean to pedantic, but the two are used for different things :-))

Vicky88

Yes, I heard from friends who are still there that things have changed dramatically and that landlords have had to eat a bit of humble pie in the way they treat tenants. Someone mentioned to me that their rent had dropped by $1,000 per month.

Englishmum

Andy - you're not married to a Filipina called Maria are you? And drink in The Duke of Edinburgh English pub in Cupertino?

Englishmum

Oops, no you're not the Andy I'm thinking of! But I do wonder if you know him (he's from Coventry) and Maria via The Duke pub.....?