Sacramento middle class neighborhoods (Citrus Heights, Citrus: middle-class, real estate, rentals)

[RWE2007]

Hi.... The company my husband and I work for in the Buffalo, New York area now has an office in downtown Sacramento. We have always talked about moving to California, he has lived out west before (Albuquerque NM) and loved it. We are seriously considering a move.... Can anyone suggest a decent middle class neighborhood to raise our young son? I was thinking of Natomas, but read about that area being in a flood zone... our budget for a home would be in the $100-110k range, and we are most likely looking for a ranch-style home, with about 1200 sq feet, and a small yard. We are both very street savvy, and very free-thinking people, and very creative (office workers by day---musicians by night!)

We want to offer our son the open-minded life out west (we have had it with New York!).... Any ideas for safe neighborhoods close to downtown (within a 20 min commute) that would suit our needs?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

[wburg]

$100-110k is a very, very low number for a house in a middle-class neighborhood in the Sacramento area.

[AugustRN]

agreed about the 100k for a home. We are from Buffalo, NY also and transplanted to Sacramento and the differences in real estate are worlds apart...apples and oranges. (Welcome to Sac btw...its a great great place! We are now being transferred to Cleveland but have loved the year here).

Can you rent for a bit and take time to check it out? Being musicians our Midtown area rocks! It has a great Allentown or Elmwood Village feel but, well, with a bit less litter and a bit more community sense. Sac is alot like Buffalo just minus the snow. Good restaurants, music, arts, theatre, parks. You will enjoy it Im sure.

How old is your son...do you need to think about school districts already? We live in South Natomas..almost downtown area. It can get a little bit sketchy sometimes more in the S. Natomas part. Never had any problems though.

There are a ton of rentals. Feel free to inbox me and I will help however I can. I have only been here about a year..almost..but I travel the county for my job so I get a good look around.

[NinaN]

I agree that $100K would make it difficult to buy a home in decent condition in a good in Sac. Maybe a condo.

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by RWE2007

a decent middle class neighborhood ........our budget for a home would be in the $100-110k range,

Any ideas for safe neighborhoods close to downtown (within a 20 min commute) that would suit our needs?

Not at your budget. I'm not even sure you could find a condo at that price close to downtown...perhaps closer to Arden & Watt, or out in Citrus Heights, but that's not necessarily, decent middle class. It's more like student housing. I agree with the other suggestions that you rent first, then look around.

[Majin]

Originally Posted by RWE2007

our budget for a home would be in the $100-110k range

rofl

[RWE2007]

Thanks everyone!

[ryuns]

As long as you're willing to make certain sacrifices, you might be able to find a place. Super tiny inventory of houses right now, especially in that thread. But you still might be able to make it work. Unfortunately, you'd probably be in one of those neighborhoods that people recommend avoiding--South Sac, North Sac, or Oak Park. If it were me, I'd be looking for a cheap place with decent bones (poor cosmetics can be fixed up pretty easily), as far north in Oak Park (towards UCD Med Center) as possible in that price range. S

acBee just released a "shooting and murder" map from the last 5 years. That doesn't mean you'd avoid petty theft, be able to walk around feeling completely safe at night, etc, but it's a start.

[RWE2007]

Originally Posted by ryuns

As long as you're willing to make certain sacrifices, you might be able to find a place. Super tiny inventory of houses right now, especially in that thread. But you still might be able to make it work. Unfortunately, you'd probably be in one of those neighborhoods that people recommend avoiding--South Sac, North Sac, or Oak Park. If it were me, I'd be looking for a cheap place with decent bones (poor cosmetics can be fixed up pretty easily), as far north in Oak Park (towards UCD Med Center) as possible in that price range. S

acBee just released a "shooting and murder" map from the last 5 years. That doesn't mean you'd avoid petty theft, be able to walk around feeling completely safe at night, etc, but it's a start.

Thank you... I am supposing that maybe we could afford more of a house.... In New York, about half of our mortgage payment is property taxes. Maybe this is not the case in CA? But maybe there are HOA or other fees/taxes in CA that I am not considering?

[wburg]

Property taxes in California are about 1% of the home's assessed value. There are HOAs if you live in a place with an HOA, but plenty of places don't have them. In some cases, mostly in newer developments, there are Mello-Roos assessments, basically a workaround to pay for things like schools and parks.

Sounds like New York's property tax rates are much higher than California's, especially outside of NYC.