Moving to Sacramento from Atlanta (Roseville, Davis: condo, crime rate, mortgage)

[bmhooks]

30 something year old female medical professional with a family (husband and child) who have lived in Atlanta for 3 years. I am not happy with the job opportunities and I have found, interviewed, and been offered 3 positions in the Sacramento area: the jobs are located in Davis, downtown Sacramento, and Roseville areas with Sutter Health, Kaiser, and Dignity Health. Based on the job opportunities, we are looking for family friendly neighborhoods with good neighborhoods and are considering Roseville/Rocklin area as well as western Sacramento and El Dorado area

1. Budget:

up to $2500/mo for mortgage payment

2. House/Condo/Townhome?

Would like to purchase a home (we will be selling our home in Atlanta and have gained at least $75 -100k equity over the past 3 years and we have a down payment as well)

Would like a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with open concept (can be single story) with decent back yard and pool (if possible) for a purchase price of $450-500K

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home)

I have offered employment but my husband does not (as of yet) but my potential employer is helping my husband find a job there too (lawyer with MBA)

4. Children(public school vs. private)

Have 1 toddler girl but would like to expand our family and are looking for good public (preferred) and possibly private schools

5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two

Like a mix of suburban and urban lifestyle: we like to live in suburban area but have access to the city to attend sporting events, plays, shows, go to the movies, shop, etc. We also like to travel so we want to be near an international airport (my husband is from Kenya and we visit his family ever so often)

6. Easy access to public transit, important or not?

Access to public transit is not particularly important but a plus

7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood.

More single family neighborhood with young professionals or working class families with good school system and easy access to commercial areas for shopping, etc.
Looking for a home up to $350 K with 4-5 bedrooms, 3-4 bathrooms (decent sized secondary bedrooms) with open concept, spacious kitchen and living areas for entertaining as well as outdoor patio or yard with pool for entertaining with 3 car garage

Is this feasible?
Can we live in Sacramento without being financial strapped?

[Archan]

I moved from Midtown to the Roseville area a little over 4 years ago. No humidity! I liked living in Atlanta, but I think this area offers more in the surrounding areas. I think that your budget would be easy to achieve in this area. The public transportation is not that great. We don't have a system like Marta here. I would check out the Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln areas. Your husband can easily get to Sac International by freeway or backroads. It is about 30 miles or so. Good luck with the move.

[NinaN]

You mentioned both $350K and $450K. $350K is very limiting for a 4-5 bedroom home anywhere in the area. The $450K-500K certainly will be enough for you to get a 4BR home.

I'm more familiar with the eastern suburbs - Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park and on. All these communities have great schools School Rankings for the Sacramento metropolitan area, California. No need IMHO to go to private schools out here, but some people still choose that based on their child needing a smaller class size or based on religious preference. One of the reasons we chose El Dorado Hills is for my elementary school age son, and we have been very happy with our decision both with the schools and the community.

Access to Sacramento is easy along highway 50, but still 30 minutes from El Dorado Hills without traffic. Folsom offers a lot in terms of shopping, restaurants and entertainment - check out the Harris Center for the Arts https://www.harriscenter.net/Online/default.asp

The airport is further from this side of town, but still only 45 minutes in normal (not rush hour) traffic.

If you have any specific questions about this area, I would be happy to help.

[Majin]

East Sacramento, although for 500k you probably can only get a 2bedroom/1bath. 1200 sqft.

[Archan]

I have used the website, californiamoves.com. You can see is available in different cities.

[hd4me]

Originally Posted by bmhooks

30 something year old female medical professional with a family (husband and child) who have lived in Atlanta for 3 years. I am not happy with the job opportunities and I have found, interviewed, and been offered 3 positions in the Sacramento area: the jobs are located in Davis, downtown Sacramento, and Roseville areas with Sutter Health, Kaiser, and Dignity Health. Based on the job opportunities, we are looking for family friendly neighborhoods with good neighborhoods and are considering Roseville/Rocklin area as well as western Sacramento and El Dorado area

1. Budget:

up to $2500/mo for mortgage payment

2. House/Condo/Townhome?

Would like to purchase a home (we will be selling our home in Atlanta and have gained at least $75 -100k equity over the past 3 years and we have a down payment as well)

Would like a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with open concept (can be single story) with decent back yard and pool (if possible) for a purchase price of $450-500K

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home)

I have offered employment but my husband does not (as of yet) but my potential employer is helping my husband find a job there too (lawyer with MBA)

4. Children(public school vs. private)

Have 1 toddler girl but would like to expand our family and are looking for good public (preferred) and possibly private schools

5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two

Like a mix of suburban and urban lifestyle: we like to live in suburban area but have access to the city to attend sporting events, plays, shows, go to the movies, shop, etc. We also like to travel so we want to be near an international airport (my husband is from Kenya and we visit his family ever so often)

6. Easy access to public transit, important or not?

Access to public transit is not particularly important but a plus

7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood.

More single family neighborhood with young professionals or working class families with good school system and easy access to commercial areas for shopping, etc.
Looking for a home up to $350 K with 4-5 bedrooms, 3-4 bathrooms (decent sized secondary bedrooms) with open concept, spacious kitchen and living areas for entertaining as well as outdoor patio or yard with pool for entertaining with 3 car garage

Is this feasible?
Can we live in Sacramento without being financial strapped?

It's feasible to find a 4 bedroom/3 bath around 350k (or within 30K) However you may be looking at what I will call tier 2 neighborhoods (for lack of a better term). These are communities that are part of cities that aren't locally known as prestige addresses in contrast to places like Roseville, Folsom, Granite Bay, or El Dorado Hills. There may be some negatives. The city itself is not thought of as desirable to live in or not as desirable as the above cities. Conveniences may not be adjacent to the neighborhood, the crime rate for the city may be higher than the above. However, there would be positives. The neighborhood school(s) may be considered high performing, the crime rate for the neighborhood itself is low and you get more bang for the buck ( a larger home). Some areas to consider would be Elk Grove (east Elk Grove to access the higher performing middle/high schools and away from some bad areas), Rancho Cordova (south of Douglas Road which is served by the Elk Grove School District) and Fair Oaks (Fair Oaks is not a city but an unincorporated area). Hopefully others can chime in with more suggestions.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Davis, Davis, Davis, Davis... Have I said Davis?

I lived in Davis and in Sacramento, and I used to go to Roseville fairly regularly visiting friends. Davis is by far the nicest, most family friendly, safe town. Very bike friendly, great schools. It's just sooooo much nicer than Sacto or Roseville, in my opinion. Sacto and Roseville have bad traffic and are busy and there is more crime.

BUT, I had to laugh at your requirements for a home. Homes here are not huge like they are in the south. I also lived in TN. And you won't find a home in a good neighborhood in a good school district for your price range. And homes with pools are not as common either. There are usually community pools, though, and there is one in Davis. In fact, I think there is more than one with swimming lessons, etc.

In fact, if they are interested in horses, there is an equestrian center on the huge UC Davis campus with riding lessons.

Transit to Sacramento from Davis is good, too. I bought a condo in Davis and at one point was working in Sacto. There is an express bus from Davis to downtown Sacto, and from there you can catch the bus or the light rail. So, if your hubby couldn't find a job in Davis, he could commute to Sacto.

FWIW.

[enigma99a]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Davis, Davis, Davis, Davis... Have I said Davis?

I lived in Davis and in Sacramento, and I used to go to Roseville fairly regularly visiting friends. Davis is by far the nicest, most family friendly, safe town. Very bike friendly, great schools. It's just sooooo much nicer than Sacto or Roseville, in my opinion. Sacto and Roseville have bad traffic and are busy and there is more crime.

BUT, I had to laugh at your requirements for a home. Homes here are not huge like they are in the south. I also lived in TN. And you won't find a home in a good neighborhood in a good school district for your price range. And homes with pools are not as common either. There are usually community pools, though, and there is one in Davis. In fact, I think there is more than one with swimming lessons, etc.

In fact, if they are interested in horses, there is an equestrian center on the huge UC Davis campus with riding lessons.

Transit to Sacramento from Davis is good, too. I bought a condo in Davis and at one point was working in Sacto. There is an express bus from Davis to downtown Sacto, and from there you can catch the bus or the light rail. So, if your hubby couldn't find a job in Davis, he could commute to Sacto.

FWIW.

You should have mentioned Davis Station to Downtown. There are 34 trains daily, so you wouldn't even have to take a bus if busses are not your thing.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by enigma99a

You should have mentioned Davis Station to Downtown. There are 34 trains daily, so you wouldn't even have to take a bus if busses are not your thing.

Good point. I loved that the train station was right in downtown Davis. I could ride my bike there, then hop on the train to the Bay Area to visit family and friends.

The train station in downtown Sacramento, is not real handy to the downtown bus transfers and lightrail, though. But, maybe there's a convenient bus from the station to the lightrail, etc. I never did that when I commuted to Sacramento from Davis. I have a vague memory of the timing of the train not working out for me. But, you're right, worth looking into.

And it would be a fun trip with the kids to take the train to Sacto, then go to the railroad museum and old town Sacto on the river, too. I did do that more than once on a weekend. It's a bit of a hike from the station going west to the river and old town, too. With little kids in tow, might want to grab a quick cab if the kids aren't up to walking that far.

They'd probably love a ride in the horse drawn buggies in old town Sacramento, too.

I enjoyed going to Sacramento a lot for museums and events, etc. But, I preferred living in Davis.

[enigma99a]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Good point. I loved that the train station was right in downtown Davis. I could ride my bike there, then hop on the train to the Bay Area to visit family and friends.

The train station in downtown Sacramento, is not real handy to the downtown bus transfers and lightrail, though. But, maybe there's a convenient bus from the station to the lightrail, etc. I never did that when I commuted to Sacramento from Davis. I have a vague memory of the timing of the train not working out for me. But, you're right, worth looking into.

And it would be a fun trip with the kids to take the train to Sacto, then go to the railroad museum and old town Sacto on the river, too. I did do that more than once on a weekend.

Not handy for light rail? There is light rail in the same station on 15 min intervals. Can't get more handy than that