If one of the biggest concerns is looking for a house, during the pandemic it was even more complicated. My husband arrived in California in February, and in principle our move would arrive in May, so by that month we should have the house. Everything got complicated because the American consulates were closed and they didn't issue visas, so Leyre and I were in São Paulo without the possibility of traveling to the United States, we couldn't look for a family home this time. Obviously the first thing is to search the internet for house rentals. From Brazil I found several pages, but the most reliable seemed to us to be Zillow. So from São Paulo I was selecting houses within our budget and I was showing them to Paulo.
Desperation was beginning to grow, due to the pandemic there was not much supply and what was available was old, poorly maintained... and very, very expensive. With the pandemic there was not much supply so the law of supply and demand was in full force.
We found some that by "photographs" could be adapted to our needs. Second step, contact the Realtors to arrange the visits. Paulo sorted out what was worthwhile and if that was the case, he took some photos or video and if we liked it, the technology helped and we again made a "video call visit"
Finally we found a house that we liked, the distribution, the size, the location (remember that it has to be in the area of the chosen school) we really liked the natural light and the kitchen (and that we hardly cook anything)
And then...the suspense arrives... The owners have to approve you as a tenant... they ask you for references, reports... and we also came with a dog. Being foreigners, we do not have a history so it is even more complicated. At least we didn't deal with the owner directly so everything was always through the Realtor.
In our case, the company supported us with reports and the financial support that they ask you to rent a house. I mean, they ask you for "credit score" financial reports and of course we didn't have any of this. In the end everything went well, they liked us (we sent photos of the family and everything) and they rented the house for us!
They usually ask for 1 month deposit and the owner takes care of the gardener's expenses.
Our house has a small swimming pool and the maintenance is also taken care of by the owner.
If you come with a dog or cat, it is generally easy to be accepted and they charge an extra deposit for the animal.
Anywhere in the 'Bay Area' has exorbitant prices for rent. Houses rent very quickly. So today you may have liked a house and tomorrow it will no longer be available. There is a lot of demand
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