Moving from Seattle to SF with kids - need advice pls! (San Francisco: extended stay, real estate market)

[cheryllouise]

My husband's been offered a great job with one of the Silicon Valley biggies and they want us and our 2yo and 5mo baby to move fast. Trouble is, we don't know the SF or SJ areas at all and have no idea where/what we can afford. Ideally we're looking to rent or buy a family 3-bed house with back yard in a neighborhood that has some great family activities/good schools etc, but we'd also love a downtown feel with restaurants, shops etc. We're currently living in Fremont in Seattle, which is a very hipster neighborhood but also super kid friendly and very close to downtown Seattle.

I guess my main questions are: are the downtown neighborhoods (Noe Valley, Bernal Heights etc) hideously expensive?

What are places like San Mateo, Redwood City etc like?

Is the commute from SF to Mountain View horrible?

I've briefly looked on Zillow and it seems you can get the size of house and location we're currently in anywhere in the greater SF area for less than $1m.

Sorry for the vagueness of question. I just need some ideas of where to start looking and where to avoid
Thanks for reading! I really appreciate any and all advice

[cheryllouise]

Sorry, typo - I meant to say "it seems you *can't* get ... For less than $1m"

[bmw335xi]

I wouldn't live in the city with children, it's not the best place for a family with young kids and real estate is very expensive. The fact there are more dogs in the city than children I think confirms this view lol.

The SF Peninsula is great though! Still expensive, but perfect in my eyes as a place where children will have a good life and so will the parents.

I recommend Burlingame, San Mateo, Foster City, Belmont and San Carlos. You will love them! Use redfin.com when looking for a home, open houses or even agents because you get 15-45% of the commission back to you.

[cheryllouise]

Thanks! What are those cities like? Do they have a downtown area? Or is it mostly strip malls and big box malls?
I'll check out Redfin for sure! We used them when buying our house in Seattle

[California Vagabond]

I'll second the recommendation to use redfin.com, although am neutral about use of redfin agents ... not because I've heard good or bad about them, but because I haven't used them myself. The web site, though, is certainly first class.

Noe Valley and Bernal Heights are great neighborhoods, but as expensive as they appear from afar. A recent article suggests that S.F. is great for babies -- Surprise: S.F. top U.S. city for babies, website says - SFGate -- but I fear it may be a much worse city for kids in elementary grades and older, unless the parents can afford private school. The worst rap against the city may be that it's a playground for twenty somethings: bright and jazzy for young singles, but without the support network for child rearing.

Here's an article on the city school lottery: Confused by San Francisco’s Public School Lottery? Here’s Our Explainer. | Bay Area Real Estate Market Blog | Pacific Union .

Many commute by Caltrain commuter rail to San Francisco from the peninsula. caltrain.com

I strongly, emphatically, without hesitation recommend renting before you buy, even if you've got to shack up at an extended stay hotel. A few months of discomfort are worth avoiding a disastrous investment in an unsuitable neighborhood.

And finally, my strongest recommendation:

I just plugged the search word 'parent' into meetup.com for groups within fifty miles of San Francisco, and found quite a few. Cheryllouise, I think those groups could be a great resource. The group members are mostly in the same boat, and can offer practical tips on neighborhoods, school resources, and so forth.

Good luck!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The places here that are similar to the Fremont District will give you sticker shock.

[ilkhd2]

Peninsula is rich and white -if you like this kind of places you'll like Burlingame, Foster City etc. Berkeley/Albany is probably best approximation of the place in Seattle: more diverse and more liberal.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by cheryllouise

Ideally we're looking to rent or buy a family 3-bed house with back yard in a neighborhood that has some great family activities/good schools etc, but we'd also love a downtown feel with restaurants, shops etc.

Is the commute from SF to Mountain View horrible?

Most people will consider a 40 mile drive in jammed rush hour traffic horrible. However maybe his company has a private bus line from SF to Mountain View.

Easy choice, rent in Mountain View or Los Altos until you get to know the area. Mountain View has one of the best downtowns on the peninsula. It is also close to Palo Alto downtown.

[Donaldo]

SF is NOT kid-friendly. As someone else said, you see more dogs than children. It is not the environment I'd raise a family in. Sorry.

You will pay out the nose for housing anywhere around here, but my suggestion is to stick to Mountain View, if that's where the work is. It's a nice city with great restaurants and relatively safe.