Petaluma: What will $400-500k Get You??

[calif]

Dynamic features include a database property search with full color photographs of listings in Marin County.

The only thing I found that was older on a large lot was a fixer upper.

[checar]

Prairie Guy's info is accurate & thorough. Sonoma would be a good fit but you do want to be on the east side. Houses in/near the Boyes Hot Springs/Agua Caliente section are generally less desireable. If you could settle for a 60's or 70's ranch style home you'd probably be in OK shape in Sonoma. It's a nice town.

A couple more suggestions: In Sonoma county - Kenwood and Glen Ellen. I would think you could commute to Santa Rosa pretty easily from there, though it depends on where in Santa Rosa. Prices are coming down so your price range just may work for a fixer.

Napa county - Napa is a good-sized town where you could possibly work, and the town itself is at 80,000 or so population but it does have some small town feel to it. As you go 'upvalley' as they say (up HWY 29 toward St. Helena) you get more of the whole wine country lifestyle thing and much higher prices. Napa has some nice "old town" neighborhoods and some dumpier sections, some of it is on a street-by-street basis so it's hard to tell you exactly what to avoid. I lived in Petaluma and Napa and even though Napa is bigger population-wise, it has a much less congested feel. Nicer people, too, in my opinion.

Have you looked into gold country?

[prairie guy]

OP, don't know if you are still checking this post, but thanks to checar for info on Napa County, which I'm not as familiar with. jtorres brings up great points that I underestimated the cost of attractive housing in Petaluma and certainly undersold the commute trek from Petaluma to SF (60 minutes?? Never!) and traffic in Sonoma County. I visit often, having formerly lived there, and traffic seems worse on every visit!

checar brought up an excellent choice, in Glen Ellen--lots of older homes and kind of a "funky" type burg.

Good luck op on your search.

[checar]

Traffic must be worse from Petaluma to SF than I remember it...

[Cat_Person]

400-500 K will get you a small airstream. But it's up to you to find a place to park it.

[DowNout]

I would continue to keep your options open with your price range below 500K. Prices are dropping in Petaluma and the surrounding towns, and finding something below that range is becoming increasingly better and better. The West side will have the older homes, but I would also consider the Northeast section desirable as well. Around Rainer (sp?) and towards the Junior College are some great deals. Good luck on your house hunting!

I used to commute from Petaluma on the Golden Gate Transit, and I typically made it down to SF, walking in the door to the office with my Peet's coffee, in about an hour. That's total commute time, not just time spent on the bus. Bus time was usually around 40-45minutes. Nice ride, quite, got work done on the laptop, read, or slept. Be aware that commuting from Sonoma or Napa will take you longer, and I am not sure if there are even commuter buses that run from there to SF. You would probably need to drive over to a park and ride along the 101, then take the bus.