Company living guides
Living near your campus
You landed the job, or the move, or the promotion. The next question is the big one: where should you live? I am building one complete guide for each of the great companies of this valley, and every guide answers that question fully. The areas, the drive, the shuttle, the money, the schools, all on one page.
I am Simon Sahi, a real estate agent with Signature Properties here in Silicon Valley. I help people buy and sell homes in the towns around these campuses every week. This page is the front door to the guides. Start here, then go deep on your own company.
One valley, many campuses. The right town for your life depends on where your work sits inside it.
One page per company
Short answer: each company gets its own page because each campus lives in a different part of the valley, and the right answer for one campus is the wrong answer for another.
A campus in Cupertino points you at one set of towns. A campus in Menlo Park points at another. The roads differ, the school districts differ, the prices differ, and the daily rhythm of life differs. A single valley wide page would blur all of that into mush, so each guide is built around one campus and the towns that truly serve it.
Every guide carries the same complete set of answers:
- The areas compared, with morning drive times at peak and off peak.
- Getting to campus, by car, by shuttle, by bike and by train.
- The money picture: prices by area, renting first or buying first, buying while paid partly in stock, and the basics of closing costs and taxes.
- The buying journey, step by step, on a relocation timeline.
- Family life: schools, parks and the daily rhythm of each town.
- The questions employees of that company ask most, answered plainly.
- A first month checklist for when you land.
Read the short answers and you have the story in minutes. Read the whole page and you have it in full. Nothing is spread across ten pages, and nothing important is left out.
The guides
Short answer: seven company guides are live now: Apple, Google, Meta, Netflix, Nvidia, Microsoft and Adobe, each one built to the same complete standard.
Apple: living near Apple Park
Live now. The complete guide to living near Apple Park in Cupertino.
Four areas compared in depth: Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Los Altos and Saratoga, with drive times, prices and schools for each. Getting to the campus by car, shuttle, bike and train. The money picture, the buying journey on a relocation timeline, family life, the questions Apple employees ask, and a first month checklist.
Google: living near the Mountain View campus
Live now. The complete guide to living near the Google campus in Mountain View.
Four areas compared in depth: Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos and Palo Alto, with drive times, prices and schools for each. Getting to the campus by car, shuttle, bike and train. The money picture, the buying journey on a relocation timeline, family life, the questions Google employees ask, and a first month checklist.
Meta: living near the Menlo Park campus
Live now. The complete guide to living near the Meta campus in Menlo Park.
Four areas compared in depth: Menlo Park, Atherton, Palo Alto and Redwood City, with drive times, prices and schools for each. Getting to the campus by car, shuttle, bike and train. The money picture, the buying journey on a relocation timeline, family life, the questions Meta employees ask, and a first month checklist.
Netflix: living near the Los Gatos campus
Live now. The complete guide to living near the Netflix campus in Los Gatos.
Four areas compared in depth: Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga and San Jose, with drive times, prices and schools for each. Getting to the campus by car, shuttle, bike and train. The money picture, the buying journey on a relocation timeline, family life, the questions Netflix employees ask, and a first month checklist.
Nvidia: living near the Santa Clara campus
Live now. The complete guide to living near the Nvidia campus in Santa Clara.
Four areas compared in depth: Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Los Gatos, with drive times, prices and schools for each. Getting to the campus by car, shuttle, bike and train. The money picture, the buying journey on a relocation timeline, family life, the questions Nvidia employees ask, and a first month checklist.
Microsoft: living near the Silicon Valley campus
Live now. The complete guide to living near the Microsoft Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View.
Four areas compared in depth: Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos and Cupertino, with drive times, prices and schools for each. Getting to the campus by car, shuttle, bike and train. The money picture, the buying journey on a relocation timeline, family life, the questions Microsoft employees ask, and a first month checklist.
Adobe: living near the San Jose towers
Live now. The complete guide to living near the Adobe towers in San Jose.
Four areas compared in depth: San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos and Sunnyvale, with drive times, prices and schools for each. Getting to the campus by car, shuttle, bike and train. The money picture, the buying journey on a relocation timeline, family life, the questions Adobe employees ask, and a first month checklist.
For many employees the shuttle decides the map. Every guide starts there.
Another company?
Guides for more companies will join this page as they are built. If your company is not here yet and you are weighing a move right now, call me anyway. The guide being unwritten does not slow the help down. The help came first. The pages are simply the help, written down.
The thinking behind every guide
Short answer: five things decide whether a home near work truly works: the drive, the shuttle, the money, the schools, and having it all in one place. Every guide is built on those five.
In the closer towns, the ride to campus is part of the morning, not a chore before it.
The drive
Maps measure miles. Mornings measure lives. A town that reads twenty minutes on a quiet Sunday can run forty on a school morning, so every guide times the real hours, peak and off peak, and the number you plan on is the number you will live.
The shuttle
The big companies run private shuttles for their people, and a home near a pickup point can be worth more than a home that is merely closer on the map. The stops live on each company own internal pages, and they shift as teams grow, so no outside page can print them honestly. Every guide treats the shuttle map as a first weeks question at the new job, and teaches you to search with your pickup points in hand.
The money
The price is only the front door. Property tax resets to your price when you buy, insurance follows the home and its setting, and a large share of tech pay can arrive as stock that vests over time. Every guide walks the full cost of owning in plain, general terms, so you plan on the whole picture and not on the sticker.
The schools
These towns are famous for their schools, and the lines that assign them can turn on a single street. Two homes that look identical on a map can feed different schools. Every guide names the districts honestly and carries the same warning: confirm the assigned schools by the exact address of any home, in writing, before you offer.
One place
A move is a hundred small questions wearing one big coat. Where do people at my company live? What will the tax look like? Should we rent first? Each guide answers its company questions in one sitting, short answers first, so you can stop opening tabs and start making decisions.
Questions employees ask, whichever the company
Short answer: the same handful of questions arrives with every move, whatever the logo on the building. Here they are, answered the way I answer them in person.
Why one page per company?
Because each campus sits in a different part of the valley. The towns, roads, school districts and prices that serve one campus do not serve another. One page per company keeps every answer exact, and one sitting gives you the whole picture.
Should I rent first or buy right away?
If you know the valley and your budget is settled, buying right away saves a second move. If you are new to the area, a season of renting buys knowledge that protects a very large decision. Every company guide works through the choice inside its own towns.
Can I buy when much of my pay is stock?
In general, yes. Lenders who serve this valley see stock pay every day, and they look at the pattern of what has vested and landed over time, along with base pay and bonus. Bring the full picture early and let them judge it whole. That is general education; your own lender will give you your own answer.
My company guide is not written yet. Can you still help me?
Yes, gladly. The guides are the written form of the work I do every week. If your company does not have a guide yet, call me now and we will work your move the same way the guides do: towns, drive, shuttle, schools and numbers.
What does a first conversation cost?
Nothing but the time. Call, tell me the company and the timing, and you will leave knowing the areas, the numbers and the next step, whether we end up working together or not.
A word from me
For more than twelve years I have helped families buy and sell homes in these towns, from first homes to grand estates, and I give every home the same care. My clients have left me 104 five star reviews, and the homes I have helped sell here add up to more than $250M. The numbers I trust most are simpler: my phone rings when a past client has a question, years after the keys.
If you are weighing a move for work, let us talk it through. One call, no pressure, and you will leave knowing the areas, the numbers and the next step. Call me on the Peninsula line at (650) 274 1134 or the South Bay line at (408) 389 6939, or write to me at SIMON@SPSILICONVALLEY.COM.
Whichever campus you land at, welcome to the neighborhood.
Simon Sahi
Real Estate Agent, Signature Properties
CA DRE #01953287
Thinking of buying or selling near your campus?
Let us talk through the areas, the numbers and your timing, in one honest conversation.
Peninsula (650) 274-1134
South Bay (408) 389-6939
