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Old 10-23-2018, 07:47 PM
 
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I will be moving back to CA in December/January. I lived 24 years in San Diego and moved to DC area 7 years ago. I'm happy to be moving back - but I will miss DC (not so much MD). I live in PG County so I do understand rough areas. I have a daughter in college who lives with me so making the move now is not ideal but you've gotta go when opportunity knocks. We have decisions to make on her housing as well so this is a really chaotic time.

I have a very sweet co-op home here in MD close to Metro that has a very low mortgage. I'm spoiled. When I bought it I gutted it - new electric, plumbing, flooring, granite, cabinets and new bathrooms. I sunk much of my savings into down payment (hence low mortgage) and renovations. Basically all of the house. Was not anticipating needing to move. So looking at those CA real estate prices, and what you get, is scaring me. I've read most of the threads and I am more than aware of cost overall though I gotta say SD is cheaper.

Yes my salary is a very good one although I have debt and student loans so I have limits including I will be helping my daughter with her living costs (we are trying to do college as debt free as possible and we just took out a small loan and she's a Jr so we feel pretty good so far about it).

Because of this I'd like to keep rent to $2300 or less. I will be traveling 30-35% of the time. With 2 cats I would prefer 2 bdr but that might not be possible. More like as close to 800-1000 sq ft ideally - open to 1 bedroom with a bit larger living area or den or loft or extra space sort as well. Prefer 2 but 1 will do. 1 Ba is plenty.

Working in Pleasanton/Dublin area. Eventually would like to buy but would like to keep around 350-475K or so. Might be a bit pipe dream. When I buy I want a small property like a 2/1 or a 3/1 or a 2/2 type. I do not need a large yard or anything too fancy. I have 3 cats (so some HOA's are out as I don't want to hassle with pets/no pets and drama which I had in San Diego) but my daughter will take one with her when we split households here so for the renting I'll likely have 2 cats but may end up with the 3 after. I'm keeping that in mind.

My question is regarding the apartment/townhome/duplex that I would be looking to rent for 6 months or so. Maybe a year. Until I am ready to buy. I need to sell my home here and hope to use the equity ($35-60K initially and additional savings of about $45K to alltogether put 10%-15% down on a house or townhome or similar but this is going to take a while - so I will be likely renting for a period until I get everything situated.

Would you recommend renting in the area I want to buy? For obvious reasons that's a positive as it lets me see the area and experience it. It is what I did when I moved to this area in MD. It was helpful and I got connected so I got my house before it went on the market.

Would you recommend for ease of facilitating my new role I move closer to that location? It is close enough to a BART line for me to walk (I consider close 1.5 miles or less) - obviously rentals in that area are much more pricey. But benefit is I could also easily get to the airport also. So a trade off.

Or I can just find a place I like and take a chance - which opens up new areas like Oakland, Richmond, etc. Though unless it's on the right BART line without a bunch of transfer, I think the commute will be a killer. I know the Vallejo commute includes the bridge toll and at least an hour. I'm used to traffic but obviously lighter commute = win. Given my travel schedule though and the opp to maybe do 2-3 days telework I'm not super overly concerned with commute because I'll only be in office maybe 35-45% of time.

Areas I am looking or thinking I can look to rent include anywhere on the blue or orange line going to Dublin/Pleasanton or connecting up. I don't want to transfer twice.

I got amazing advice from you all when I was looking to move to Maryland/DC area. Feel free to give me any advice about anything above.

(P.S. I cannot get that username to work so I re registered since it's been so many years)

Thoughts?
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Old 10-24-2018, 03:23 PM
 
Location: San Francisco, CA
1,386 posts, read 1,476,605 times
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Will you be working in the Dublin/Pleasanton area near one of the two BART stations or the ACE station? What work hours will you have, and will your schedule be flexible? Will you have a car or bicycle that you can use for first/last mile travel?

The commute from Richmond or Vallejo to Dublin/Pleasanton will be absolutely miserable. So will the commute from just about everywhere else. If you want to situate yourself in a place that you might want to buy in, that will limit your options. But then again rent isn't particularly affordable in the Dublin/Pleasanton area either.

My recommendation is to move as close to work as you can considering your budget. But if possible do pick a direction to go that might match up with where you want to buy eventually. For example, if you think you'll buy in Concord, perhaps you can score a relatively affordable rental in Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek. Or if you think you'll buy in Tracy, perhaps you can rent in Livermore. So on and so forth. I would advise against anything north/west of Oakland because you'd get mixed in with SF-bound commute traffic.

Limiting yourself to a neighborhood near a BART station might not be the best. The Dublin/Pleasanton area is also serviced by the Altamont Commute Express (https://www.acerail.com), as well as express buses operated by County Connection (https://countyconnection.com) and Wheels (https://www.wheelsbus.com).
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Old 10-24-2018, 05:57 PM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
7,665 posts, read 5,381,769 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexJouJou View Post
(P.S. I cannot get that username to work so I re registered since it's been so many years)

Thoughts?
Yes. Have City-Data reset your password by using your email address and sign in with your original screen name.

If that still doesn't work—and I don't see why it wouldn't—tell us what your other screen name is.
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Old 10-24-2018, 06:52 PM
 
Location: Bay Area
281 posts, read 808,059 times
Reputation: 238
Quote:
Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer View Post
Yes. Have City-Data reset your password by using your email address and sign in with your original screen name.

If that still doesn't work—and I don't see why it wouldn't—tell us what your other screen name is.
I got it to work! (I'm not kidding - yesterday I could not get it to work)

My old screen name is JosephineBeth - since there is a reply here I'm not going to duplicate but I will post in the future under the old screen name and add it to this thread.

Thanks
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Old 10-24-2018, 06:56 PM
 
758 posts, read 545,768 times
Reputation: 2291
Given the house price you are seeking, I want to gently suggest you reconsider this move. Check the new salary using a cost of living calculator, such as at www.bankrate.com. I am just trying to be helpful. It seems like your plans could have you moving from the middle class to a real risk of homelessness.
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Old 10-24-2018, 07:43 PM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,286 posts, read 51,745,829 times
Reputation: 23658
Quote:
Originally Posted by SocSciProf View Post
Given the house price you are seeking, I want to gently suggest you reconsider this move. Check the new salary using a cost of living calculator, such as at www.bankrate.com. I am just trying to be helpful. It seems like your plans could have you moving from the middle class to a real risk of homelessness.
I wouldn't go that far, considering they said "Yes my salary is a very good one." The debts are unavoidable, but she is also factoring in helping her daughter + saving to buy a house. So while her lifestyle will likely change regardless, saying she might face homelessness is stretching it... I assume her daughter would forgo any assistance if it came down to that, just as I did when my mother began to struggle financially. Also, not buying a home in the near future is an option.
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Old 10-24-2018, 07:51 PM
 
Location: Bay Area
281 posts, read 808,059 times
Reputation: 238
Default I will be by the BART by the mall (not the last stop).

Quote:
Originally Posted by davdaven View Post
Will you be working in the Dublin/Pleasanton area near one of the two BART stations or the ACE station? What work hours will you have, and will your schedule be flexible? Will you have a car or bicycle that you can use for first/last mile travel?

The commute from Richmond or Vallejo to Dublin/Pleasanton will be absolutely miserable. So will the commute from just about everywhere else. If you want to situate yourself in a place that you might want to buy in, that will limit your options. But then again rent isn't particularly affordable in the Dublin/Pleasanton area either.

My recommendation is to move as close to work as you can considering your budget. But if possible do pick a direction to go that might match up with where you want to buy eventually. For example, if you think you'll buy in Concord, perhaps you can score a relatively affordable rental in Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek. Or if you think you'll buy in Tracy, perhaps you can rent in Livermore. So on and so forth. I would advise against anything north/west of Oakland because you'd get mixed in with SF-bound commute traffic.

Limiting yourself to a neighborhood near a BART station might not be the best. The Dublin/Pleasanton area is also serviced by the Altamont Commute Express (https://www.acerail.com), as well as express buses operated by County Connection (https://countyconnection.com) and Wheels (https://www.wheelsbus.com).
I'll be by the BART by the Stoneridge Mall. That's a good idea to look at Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill as I might find something more reasonable there. I found a few places in Dublin/Pleasanton as well that were ok (rent wise - I'm sure they are very nice places given the location). I didn't know about the Altamont or the Wheels bus. That's super helpful - thank you!

I looked at Tracy as well but it seems very far away and the traffic when I look at it looks just as miserable as the commutes from the North.

My hours probably aren't super flex - most likely office hours but maybe a bit earlier/later. I will be traveling so airport access is important as well - 30% is the estimate so that may make a difference since 1 in 3 days I won't even be in the office. I do have a car so no worry about that.

Thoughts on commute from somewhere like Castro Valley, Hayward or parts of Oakland closer to my work? Does going out towards Pleasanton ease the commute or is it just as bad as if I was going into the city?
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Old 10-24-2018, 07:56 PM
 
758 posts, read 545,768 times
Reputation: 2291
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizmo980 View Post
I wouldn't go that far, considering they said "Yes my salary is a very good one." The debts are unavoidable, but she is also factoring in helping her daughter + saving to buy a house. So while her lifestyle will likely change regardless, saying she might face homelessness is stretching it... I assume her daughter would forgo any assistance if it came down to that, just as I did when my mother began to struggle financially. Also, not buying a home in the near future is an option.
You may be right. But rents will probably erode the savings and prices will continue to rise year over year. A major reset will also mean jobs dry up and credit tightens. Thus, not buying in the near future most likely means never buying. And, as rents rise, homelessness becomes a risk.
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Old 10-24-2018, 08:02 PM
 
Location: Bay Area
281 posts, read 808,059 times
Reputation: 238
Gizmo is right. The salary is a very solid one - no danger of homelessness. And I have a good 403B that would cover any real true emergency (but I would never dip into it for anything other than homelessness frankly). Right now with having my daughter in college I will be trying to support more with 2 homes - granted she can get loans (or rather I can - with Parent Plus) to support her last year in college. We just have been trying to minimize debt and pay as we go. I may postpone buying for a year until I get the equity out of my current home and the savings and other income I expect to get by the end of 2019 or so to combine into a down payment. But I am worried that waiting is going to do what was noted - if prices rise that cycle is bad and never-ending. I did check COL from here to there and I asked for the salary accordingly - and they came through. So I did all the calculations already.

I am trying very hard to be fiscally conservative in most things - what I can afford vs. what I am saying I'd like to keep it at is two different things. I can probably legitimately afford closer to $550-700K for a house but, having lived in CA during the last time housing tanked and watching family loose their house I'm not a fan of pushing it that far. Makes me uber cautious about many things. Also I'm carrying more debt than I want that I am making a dent in - and expected to stay here and continue making that dent but opportunity knocks and I'm not going to turn it down

Based on housing being 25% of gross income I can easily afford that $3K or total payment monthly- I just don't want to stretch to $4K-4.5K. Technically I can afford it - but I'd rather not get that high. Preference only.

Given my travel schedule the commute (since it won't be daily) weighs a bit less. If I were Mon-Fri 9-5 it would weigh a great deal more. So having a different layer of hell commute would be a bit less impactful for me than others maybe who work all week onsite.

EDITED: I have found a few places in Castro Valley for around $2500 or less (1 or 2 bdr) - that fits the budget fine as well and is a short and cheap (relative) BART to Pleasanton and doesn't seem like commute is terrible either.

Last edited by JosephineBeth; 10-24-2018 at 08:24 PM..
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Old 10-25-2018, 01:43 PM
 
Location: San Francisco, CA
1,386 posts, read 1,476,605 times
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If you are okay with renting in Castro Valley and understand that you may or may not be able to afford buying there, that would be my recommendation. The commute would be good, and it's a central area.

I have a friend who bought a house there a year ago, and him and his family (wife, baby) are pretty happy so far. They moved there from Oakland. My optometrist also lives in Castro Valley, in fact, and she went to UC Berkeley. Another friend of mine used to commute to the Stoneridge area from Oakland, but he and his wife bought a house in Livermore about a year ago. He's now in the regular commute direction, so even though he's physically closer to the office, it sounds like his commute is only a few minutes shorter.

I'm in Castro Valley occasionally and think it's a nice, quiet, family friendly place. It also has a bit more character than the Dublin/Pleasanton area. Dublin in particular is very modernly suburban, with large parking lots and same-same housing tracts.

If you decide to go the Walnut Creek or Pleasant Hill route, I would describe the area as a cross between Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill. WC downtown is on the fancier side, though, and housing tends to be pretty pricey. On the commute side of things, it's best if you're able to avoid I-680 unless it's south of the junction with Highway 24.
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