Sacramento Housing-How do people do it? (Palo Alto, Woodland: foreclosed, to rent, condos)

[lukeache]

Hi all:

I have been doing my research about Sacramento housing and I am a bit confused. We are a couple, no kids(do not plan on having any), we are both college graduates with a few years of professional experience and although we do not plan on buying a home right away, I would like to have an idea about areas. Since this will be our first home, I am not willing to spend more than 220K. What areas should we look into? From all the areas, it seems like Galt is one of the few reasonably prices areas but I am not sure what the area is like. There are some affordable places in Sacramento proper but they all seem to be in the bad areas(South Sacramento). Should we consider condos or townhomes in better areas instead of single family homes? I would hate to live and pay so much for a condo or townhome after living in an apt for so long.

I have included a listing that looks much like what we are looking for but It is probably in a bad area? Any help is appreciated

Single Family Home - 7725 Dixie Lou St, Sacramento, CA, 95832 - Realtor.com

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by lukeache

7725 Dixie Lou St, Sacramento, CA, 95832... looks much like what we are looking for but It is probably in a bad area?

That's the Meadowview area of South Sacramento.
One of the worst for crime, especially murder.
It also has one of the highest rate of foreclosed mortgages in the nation.

[JenniferLynn]

I highly doubt you will even find a condo or townhome in a decent Sac neighborhood for 220K. My guess is you will have to rent until you can afford (or are willing) to pay more than 220K for a home.

[charsacutter]

Maybe you should look for an older home, a 1/2 plex or fixer in a better area. Maybe West. Sac or Woodland there are some homes in your price range. If you want something newer in a nice area you will have to pay more. The market has not dropped that much.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by JenniferLynn

I highly doubt you will even find a condo or townhome in a decent Sac neighborhood for 220K. My guess is you will have to rent until you can afford (or are willing) to pay more than 220K for a home.

If you look at Trulia.com (historic pricing section) you'll see that many many
nice homes in Sacramento were under $220K in 1999 but shot up often doubling
or tripling in price due to the boom.

The boom is over so they are now fast falling back down to historical levels.
Some sellers understand this and have priced accordingly and will
negotiate upto $100K under their asking price (but you need to make a serious
paper offer). Others are still living in 2005 and hoping that their 920 sq ft 2Br/1Ba
home will sell for $400K! This is Sacramento, not Palo Alto and home prices per
square foot have historically being around $100.

What-ever you do, don't be a sucker and over-pay, Banks are scrutinizing (BOA
told me any offer with more than $250 per sq ft ratio will be heavily scrutinized)
and are hard-core businesses and won't think twice of foreclosing on you.