Moving to area

Hi. I'm moving to the bay area soon (July) and I wonder if I could get some help from my fellow redditors. I have been looking for a good apartment or house to rent in the area (anywhere in the north bay up to santa rosa) and I haven't really found anything that jumps out at me. Everytime I find a place that I like, there's always a bad review online about it. I can only afford about $1500 a month, but I'm trying to stay below that. I've lived up there before for a short while, and I am in love with the area, I'm just not all that sure where to stay put. Any advice from anyone?