klesush

laety,

I hope you considered areas like Fremont, SunnyVale in your list.
These too r good and close to Mountian View n Milipitas... bit expensive.

Michael

Every place in the Silicon Valley is expensive for housing. Places such as Palo Alto, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Los Altos, and Santana Row are more expensive areas while Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Santa Clara, and north San Jose are fairly average cost.

On the other hand, Fremont and south San Jose have very nice areas (generally nicer than the average) but are generally cheaper than the average.

laety

Thank you very much to all of you for your input! May I ask what the current reloc packages looks like in this current climate? We want to be "prepared" for negociation but are aware that packages would be completely different from few years back, so we are not quite sure what are the common things to ask /expect beside from sponsorship on visa, health care and sum to cover cost of move

Poppy girl

Looks like this chap is in the same situation http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...location+costs

Bob

It's all in the wiki and past threads, some are very recent.

What you should get, what you should ask and what you can expect to get will all depend on the industry, how senior you are, how much they really need you and how easy they could replace you...

TM_001

Agree. Try to get specific information on;

a) standard relocation packages for the company you're working for as a benchmark
b) look around on this site and others to see what is being offered, but as Bob says, remember every company & person's situation is completely different.

Ultimately try to make sure you've got your facts, especially with the company's standard packages & what you REALLY need. A lot of what people get sound great, but don't offer much and visa versa.

In my case, first time out 2-3 years ago I recieved probably one of the most 'richest' packages you could get, which was awesome, however it was exactly as Bob said - my case was they had no choice, so I could negotiate everything. This time round, it's a little different and different company, so I know I'll not get everything I had before.

As always - make sure you're very clear on how long you're intending to stay for. If you go for 2-3 years, you're requirements will be different than if you go forever.

md95065

LOL - funny that was what I was thinking ...

Yes, it is a nice place to go shopping and there are some nice restaurants but it isn't somewhere I would want to iive (although the overpriced apartments there are probably a bit less over priced now than they once were) - it's just 2 or 3 blocks of moderately upscale shops on Steven's Creek at Winchester.

md95065

OK - I take that back - $2250 - $2925 for 1 bed + one bath still sounds a little bit pricy to me ...

Michael

I agree. Other than it is across the street from the Valley Fair mall where they could draw people from, I can't imagine a worst location in the south bay (except for parts of East San Jose) that they could have selected for such an upscale complex.

Besides the Valley Fair mall, Stevens Creek Blvd is loaded with car dealerships and other not very desirable businesses.

Michael

Very pricy. For those prices they may be able to rent one of the townhouses (if available) in Antelope Hills in Fremont.

penguinsix

There is a website called City-Data that we recommend to many.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-jose/

It is a relocation forum for people moving from one town to another. It's not necessarily for expats but for Americans who are relocating and have similar question to yours (where should we live, what are nice towns, etc). I would strongly recommend looking through the recent threads there, and if you found a town (or more precisely a neighborhood) you are interested in be sure to check their comments about that area.

Since schools don't appear to be an issue at present, you have quite a bit of flexibility, constrained a) by price and b) by commute. Silicon Valley is some of the most expensive real estate in the country, and the commutes from certain parts to others can border on the insane sometimes.

http://www.realtor.com is a good site to see the housing stock in an area. It's most for sale and not for rent, but you'll get a good idea of what costs what in those areas.

Any chance the company will spring for a RECON trip before you move? Would help immensely I think.

laety

Wow well thanks to everyone! All those postings will be very helpful! We have some homework to do

N1cky

Hi, sorry missed this post somehow.

We moved to Mountain View last November from LA, we really like it here. It has a main street with lots of restaurants and bars on. There are lots of houses nearby so you could probably find somewhere to rent which is walking distance to the street. Palo Alto, Los Alto's and Sunnyvale have similar streets, all these areas are within a 20 minute drive of each other so you will have a massive choice of restaurants. We are still enjoying checking out all the new places and have only made a small dent in the list.

I'm sure someone has already suggested to use Craigslist to look for rentals, there are lots of apartments/houses to rent in the area but they do move fast so use it as a general guide for prices for now.

As for relocation package, you need to negotiate things like accommodation in corporate housing, car hire, maybe a relocation expert to show you around the areas and help you find a rental, again all this can be found in the Wiki.

If I can answer anything specific on the area for you let me know.

Vicky88

We are in Los Gatos and love it. However, have to agree with others, don't think it would be a great commute from here to Milpitas. We lived in Sunnyvale previously and didn't really like it that much.

Santana Row, we love going down there for dinner or Sunday lunch and watching the crowds go by. It's probably the only place in SV that feels like it actually has any buzz. Don't think I would like to live in those apts above as the noise would be horrendous at night.

Don't think rental prices have gone down that much in SV because the demand is still there. Think you would be lucky to get a 1 bedroom in the area for much under $2,000.

As others have suggested Craigslist is the way to go. We got both this and our previous rental from CL. However be prepared to move quickly. Take your check book with you and be ready to commit on the spot if you find a great place.

I would imagine as part of your package you should get corporate housing for 30 days. I'm not certain that a reccie would do you much good, as anything available now is unlikely to be available in 2 weeks time let alone months.

Fremont, not a place I would want to live. I think you need to really follow the guidance of those who are very familiar with that particular area.

Kats.

This thread is really useful for me too as my husband and I are looking to move to that area later this year. His work is based in Mountain View and we like the look of Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos and Los Gatos so will be looking around there. Mountain View looks a little less expensive than the other areas (and will have the shortest commute) so we will probably start there.