TheWoodsies

Hi All

We are trying to secure a 3 or 4 bed rental property in the East bay available from May. We are looking ideally in the Walnut Creek, Lamorinda areas, and are struggling!

The problems are two fold, 1) the market moves incredibly quickly and most things we see on craigslist or zillow etc are gone by the time we manage to get hold of the property mgt contact. 2) getting thru to the Prop mgt people is difficult, they all seem to screen calls and avoid calling UK cell phones, if you fill in email request forms they insist on a US phone number - which we don't have!!

Any advice? Does anyone know anyone in the area that could help? The company won't pay for a relocation agent (but will pay deposit and would probably guarantee the rent if needed for a while) but we would be happy to reimburse expenses plus a small fee for someone to be our eyes and ears on the ground.

Thanks in advance for any help

Cheers

The Woodsies

Bob

Get a US number...it's not that hard these days with things like Skype, Google Voice etc.

You can just use a realtor yourself, a lot of people do, just because of the speed of things. They take a finders fee, anything from half a months rent if way in the burbs to the more usual 1-3 months worth of rent as a fee, depending on the market.

N1cky

Rentals do move incredibly quickly around here, good houses can be advertised and rented within 4 hours. It's much easier if you are on the ground.

Are you wanting to rent something so you can move straight in when you get off the plane?

TheWoodsies

Hi Nicky,

Yes - because we need to get our two girls into elementary school, I think we need the house first before applying to schools. It's very difficult trying to work out what to do first!!

You're right about how quick they go - by the time we see the advert they are often already rented!!

We'll keep on trying - have enlisted the help of a friend out there to try and sort something out for us.

N1cky

We too have an elementary age child, and I was so worried about schools. You need to make sure the house is in a good school district area, as the school district will place them in a school in the area that has space, not necessarily your local school.

Once they are in a school, you can if you wish apply to move them to the local school.

You can't actually apply to a school direct it all goes through the school district. You can request a school but there are no guarantees. It involves going to the school district office with proof of your address, filling in some forms and they will call you to advise the school they have been placed at. They can normally start school within 5 days of you starting the process.

TheWoodsies

Thanks Nicky, that's really helpful. We'll carry on tomorrow - see what craigslist has to offer in the morning!!

L x

Michael

All the schools in Walnut Creek, Orinda, Lafayette, or Danville are ranked 8, 9, or 10 out of a possible 10 (average is 5) so I wouldn't be concerned about a rental before you get here. Once you check into a hotel in that area, they will likely allow your kids to enroll in one of the schools (click on one of the symbols on the following map and call the school district and they will likely tell you what you have to do) and registration will likely be immediate based on the hotel address. Since there is only about a month left in the school year after you arrive, it really shouldn't make that much difference if your children attend the last month of this school year (but would be nice so they can quickly meet new friends).

http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...23337%2C11%2C1

Do you really want to get a rental sight unseen. As long as you rent or own within that school district, they have to place your children in that school district. Normally they will put your children in the area school for your address but if you are late registering your children for next year (September), they may place them in another school in the district if they don't have room in your area school. For your desired area that is not a big deal since the worst that can happen is that your children will be placed in an 8 rank school (no 8 ranked schools in Walnut Creek so 9 would be minimum). If you definitely need them be in a 10 rank school, then you will have to have an address where the area school is a 10 rank school and even then, it is not guaranteed if you register late and there isn't any room in that school. Registration has probably already started for children attending the next school year (September).