Housing

Find housing before you start service

You will be required to be living within the state of California and within San José city limits for the first day of service to allow you to focus on building relationships with your teammates, immerse yourself in training and adjust to your new neighborhood before the school year begins.

When to start looking

The housing market moves quickly in San José, and leases are typically signed at least two months in advance. With service starting in late July, it is important that you connect with your fellow incoming AmeriCorps members and try and secure roommates as soon as possible and be prepared to sign a lease between April and June for a lease starting in July.

Deciding where to live

Based on recommendations from our past AmeriCorps members, popular places to live are:

• The Carlyle
• The Woods
• South or East San José (that is where most schools are located)

Schools that we serve in:

• Mt. Pleasant
• William C. Overfelt
• Fischer Middle School of Business and Communications
• Lee Mathson Institute of Technology
• Cassell Elementary
• Chavez Elementary
• Cureton Elementary
• Dorsa Elementary
• Myer Elementary
• Ryan STEAM Academy
• San Antonio Elementary
• Aptitude Community Academy at Goss

Finding roommates

To keep living costs down and stretch your stipend further, we strongly encourage you to live with roommates. Finding one or two roommates will help stretch your dollar, build community, and open the door to many more affordable housing options. You will have several opportunities to connect with fellow incoming City Year San José AmeriCorps members via our Teams channel, relocation and housing virtual engagements and office hours with your Service Year Adviser.

Budgeting for housing

Members find housing through online posting sites, word of mouth and sometimes on the City Year Facebook group (current members advertising their apartments). Postings should outline who to contact to learn more about the property, costs and lease terms.

Depending on your location, on average, AmeriCorps members each pay $500 per month in rent.

When renting an apartment, ask about the following fees as they frequently apply.

• Broker’s fee – typically one month’s rent or a percentage or the annual lease
• Security deposit – typically one month’s rent, returned at the end of the lease if the property’s condition is maintained
• First month’s rent – typically due upon signing of the lease agreement
• Last month’s rent – may be requested upon signing of the lease agreement

Some utilities are included in the price of rent, so be sure to ask your landlord. When viewing apartments, most landlords or current tenants will gladly tell you the average price of utilities, so don’t be afraid to ask. It is also helpful to ask what utilities the house uses, such as gas or electric heat. Some units and buildings include laundry, for free or a cost, while others are located near laundromats.