moving to San Jose-any affordable apartments?

[cguo7]

Hi guys,

 

I may have found a job in San Jose (fingers crossed, won't know till mid Dec) and I'm not very familiar with the area. Neither are any of my friends or family. I wanted to start off by asking if anyone lived in the bay area and where they would suggest looking for apartments? I will begin the search, but I thought I might get some good advice here also. My husband and I want an affordable and safe area. The job is off of Zanker and Brokaw. We're just not sure what places are considered decent in terms of environment and price. If you could give any suggestions, that would be awesome. Thanks!

[Cerberus]

Hi guys,

 

I may have found a job in San Jose (fingers crossed, won't know till mid Dec) and I'm not very familiar with the area. Neither are any of my friends or family. I wanted to start off by asking if anyone lived in the bay area and where they would suggest looking for apartments? I will begin the search, but I thought I might get some good advice here also. My husband and I want an affordable and safe area. The job is off of Zanker and Brokaw. We're just not sure what places are considered decent in terms of environment and price. If you could give any suggestions, that would be awesome. Thanks!

 

CQ,

 

Same forum that is pinned in CFL "Communications" sub-forum. Here is the link for San Jose: http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-jose/.

 

IMHO, I have previously been in this area, about 8 to 9 years ago, and even then the prices, on almost everything can be mind-boggling! Hope that you have a really good job lined up. i didn't like San Francisco proper (old Chinatown). However the area near Milpitas, CA (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=OWX&resnum=0&q=Milpitas,+CA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Milpitas,+CA&gl=us&ei=sJ8cS4uJCoiENJaHqeIC&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ8gEwAA ://http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&a...ed=0CAoQ8gEwAA ) has slew of Far Eastern and Middle-Eastern restaurants, and most especially; Chinese groceries, bookstores, malls, etc, etc.

 

My ex-fiancee and I would drive down from Portland, OR to go shopping here. It was far better than Vancouver, Canada.

 

Regard to apartments and your original question, are ranging from moderately expensive to very expensive. Remember that San Jose is at the top of Silicon Valley. They took a downturn, but they darn sure ain't totally broke yet! IMHO, take LA's cost of rent (for whatever apartment range) and stick another $150 to $250 dollars onto their LA's end price, and you will be pretty fairly in the ballpark for San Jose, unless you are willing to sacrifice your standard of living. When you do this the safety of a neighborhood goes down as well. Therefore, YMMV( your mileage may vary) depending on how much cash you have as income, what the both of you think is comfortable, etc, etc.

 

Try this cost of living calculator, http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costoflivin...stofliving.html . I have used it before prior to moving to San Diego. Its calculations were only off about $100 either way, and that is for particular "creature comforts" my wife and I both have.

 

Dave

[cguo7]

Thanks a lot! Are you well and rested now after your trip?

Hi guys,

 

I may have found a job in San Jose (fingers crossed, won't know till mid Dec) and I'm not very familiar with the area. Neither are any of my friends or family. I wanted to start off by asking if anyone lived in the bay area and where they would suggest looking for apartments? I will begin the search, but I thought I might get some good advice here also. My husband and I want an affordable and safe area. The job is off of Zanker and Brokaw. We're just not sure what places are considered decent in terms of environment and price. If you could give any suggestions, that would be awesome. Thanks!

 

CQ,

 

Same forum that is pinned in CFL "Communications" sub-forum. Here is the link for San Jose: http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-jose/.

 

IMHO, I have previously been in this area, about 8 to 9 years ago, and even then the prices, on almost everything can be mind-boggling! Hope that you have a really good job lined up. i didn't like San Francisco proper (old Chinatown). However the area near Milpitas, CA (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=OWX&resnum=0&q=Milpitas,+CA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Milpitas,+CA&gl=us&ei=sJ8cS4uJCoiENJaHqeIC&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ8gEwAA ://http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&a...ed=0CAoQ8gEwAA ://http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&a...ed=0CAoQ8gEwAA ) has slew of Far Eastern and Middle-Eastern restaurants, and most especially; Chinese groceries, bookstores, malls, etc, etc.

 

My ex-fiancee and I would drive down from Portland, OR to go shopping here. It was far better than Vancouver, Canada.

 

Regard to apartments and your original question, are ranging from moderately expensive to very expensive. Remember that San Jose is at the top of Silicon Valley. They took a downturn, but they darn sure ain't totally broke yet! IMHO, take LA's cost of rent (for whatever apartment range) and stick another $150 to $250 dollars onto their LA's end price, and you will be pretty fairly in the ballpark for San Jose, unless you are willing to sacrifice your standard of living. When you do this the safety of a neighborhood goes down as well. Therefore, YMMV( your mileage may vary) depending on how much cash you have as income, what the both of you think is comfortable, etc, etc.

 

Try this cost of living calculator, http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costoflivin...stofliving.html . I have used it before prior to moving to San Diego. Its calculations were only off about $100 either way, and that is for particular "creature comforts" my wife and I both have.

 

Dave

[warpedbored]

I looked on Craigslist and a studio apt is $850. I saw a one bedroom in Milpitas for $895. That's not too far from where your work is. I didn't see anything for less than $795 with the average being $1200-$1500.

[dnoblett]

I looked on Craigslist and a studio apt is $850. I saw a one bedroom in Milpitas for $895. That's not too far from where your work is. I didn't see anything for less than $795 with the average being $1200-$1500.

Be very cautious around craigslist, and apartment rentals.

 

A popular scam is for someone to list and apartment that they do not own, and then sign a person get the deposit, and then disappear.

 

http://www.fraudguides.com/internet-craigslist-scams.asp

 

http://www.fraudguides.com/craigslist-apar...ental-scams.asp

[cguo7]

thank you

 

I looked on Craigslist and a studio apt is $850. I saw a one bedroom in Milpitas for $895. That's not too far from where your work is. I didn't see anything for less than $795 with the average being $1200-$1500.

Be very cautious around craigslist, and apartment rentals.

 

A popular scam is for someone to list and apartment that they do not own, and then sign a person get the deposit, and then disappear.

 

http://www.fraudguides.com/internet-craigslist-scams.asp

 

http://www.fraudguides.com/craigslist-apar...ental-scams.asp

[Guest Pommey]

Thanks a lot! Are you well and rested now after your trip?

 

 

By the looks of his avatar...I would say not

Edited December 8, 2009 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[Cerberus]

Thanks a lot! Are you well and rested now after your trip?

Hi guys,

 

I may have found a job in San Jose (fingers crossed, won't know till mid Dec) and I'm not very familiar with the area. Neither are any of my friends or family. I wanted to start off by asking if anyone lived in the bay area and where they would suggest looking for apartments? I will begin the search, but I thought I might get some good advice here also. My husband and I want an affordable and safe area. The job is off of Zanker and Brokaw. We're just not sure what places are considered decent in terms of environment and price. If you could give any suggestions, that would be awesome. Thanks!

 

CQ,

 

Same forum that is pinned in CFL "Communications" sub-forum. Here is the link for San Jose: http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-jose/.

 

IMHO, I have previously been in this area, about 8 to 9 years ago, and even then the prices, on almost everything can be mind-boggling! Hope that you have a really good job lined up. i didn't like San Francisco proper (old Chinatown). However the area near Milpitas, CA (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=OWX&resnum=0&q=Milpitas,+CA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Milpitas,+CA&gl=us&ei=sJ8cS4uJCoiENJaHqeIC&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ8gEwAA ://http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&a...ed=0CAoQ8gEwAA ://http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&a...ed=0CAoQ8gEwAA ://http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&a...ed=0CAoQ8gEwAA ://http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&a...ed=0CAoQ8gEwAA ) has slew of Far Eastern and Middle-Eastern restaurants, and most especially; Chinese groceries, bookstores, malls, etc, etc.

 

My ex-fiancee and I would drive down from Portland, OR to go shopping here. It was far better than Vancouver, Canada.

 

Regard to apartments and your original question, are ranging from moderately expensive to very expensive. Remember that San Jose is at the top of Silicon Valley. They took a downturn, but they darn sure ain't totally broke yet! IMHO, take LA's cost of rent (for whatever apartment range) and stick another $150 to $250 dollars onto their LA's end price, and you will be pretty fairly in the ballpark for San Jose, unless you are willing to sacrifice your standard of living. When you do this the safety of a neighborhood goes down as well. Therefore, YMMV( your mileage may vary) depending on how much cash you have as income, what the both of you think is comfortable, etc, etc.

 

Try this cost of living calculator, http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costoflivin...stofliving.html . I have used it before prior to moving to San Diego. Its calculations were only off about $100 either way, and that is for particular "creature comforts" my wife and I both have.

 

Dave

CQ,

 

Thanks for asking. Finally recovered, but been busy lately in San Diego, preparing for two major inspections coming in January. A person always thinks that they are prepared until they begin looking around, and suddenly discovers how unprepared they really are.

 

What Carl (Warpedbored) discovered didn¡¯t surprise me much, and was pretty much what I expected.

 

What part of living in California isn¡¯t expensive anymore? With the exception of living in Barstow, and who in the world wants to live that deep in the desert?

 

There is one company, I used when I first moved to San Diego, and that is Rent.com (http://www.rent.com). It¡¯s a fairly reputable Apartment/Condo/Home finder. Pick the zip code you want to search in, price range, and go from there. When I first used it, I did find a place to live and rented from a property that that Rent.com had listed. They have a promotional special that if you rent from one of the listed properties they would send you a one-time use $100 value debit card. I don¡¯t know if this is still going on.

 

I agree with posts others and find that Craig¡¯s List and San Jose newspaper ads are a bit hit and miss, and with Craig¡¯s list there definitely are scams that do go on.

 

I saw that you already made a posting in City-data forum. Sonnarat gave some fairly good information. Don¡¯t hesitate in using some of the links (ads) that are posted right below your posting. I saw one that I have never used and it is Rental Living.com http://rental-living.com/Search/Location/N...False?WT.srch=1 . It seems to be specifically centered in and around the San Jose area.

 

Apartment locator services are also an option, albeit you usually have to pay in advance for such a service. The only real satisfaction you get is that someone else does the running around for you. The price is generally $50 to $75, to join.

 

I¡¯ll continue to look around and see if anything else shows up.

 

Dave

Edited December 8, 2009 by Cerberus (see edit history)

[Cerberus]

Thanks a lot! Are you well and rested now after your trip?

 

 

By the looks of his avatar...I would say not

Nahhhh Rob. Just been stuck with the same avatar for such a long time, I thought a change would be a bit refreshing!

 

Pretty weird and this avatar matches my dark humor perfectly!

 

Dave

Edited December 8, 2009 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[pkfops]

Also try Fremont, Pleasanton & Livermore.

 

The drive from Livermore is about 20 minutes.

[cguo7]

thank you all for your help.