Moving to the Bay area from NJ - Assistance is really needed and appreciated - LONG THREAD (Daly City: to rent)

[Waubeeka]

Hi Everyone,
I really really need some help. My wife has been offered a job in the town of South San Fran and we could use some info on the surrounding areas for which to put down some roots.
We're from the burbs in NJ and want to move to a quiet town away from the edgy hussle bussle of the city. We heard about Walnut Creek and San Mateo and San Rafael among others. What are your thoughts on buying a place with the following qualities:
Little to no crime
affordable - We're going from a 4BR, 1/3 acre 2200 SF house with a 2 car garage that should sell for $550K - we can prob swing 700-750K - does that buy us a 4 BR house that's not 1500 SF?
a 45 min drive/BART ride or direct drive (or less) to the city of South San Fran.
GREAT schools as we have 2 young children aged 7 and 4

What are we going to love/hate about CA coming from NJ (we're both mid level professionals in large companies) besides gas prices?
Is the cost of living other than gas and housing tough?

We are going to visit in the next couple of weeks to get a lay of the land and look at some areas but we will have to make our mind up by the end of Aug - FREAKING OUT!!!!!

Any advice/thoughts you can give including reference sources would be most appreciated. Thanks for your time

[daepro]

My family made such a move to the bay area from Massachusetts. We owned a large house on 9 acres so such an urban move was an adjustment.
My recommendation is to rent first until you get to the area. Figuring out which towns, neighborhoods and communities fit your needs.
Since it is in South SF I would look into towns like Pacifica, and others just south of the big city.
Good luck I am sure it will a fun adventure for all of you.

[clongirl]

My advice would be to forget about places like San Rafael and/or Walnut Creek; although very nice, they would be too far away from your work (and the traffic would drive you mad). Look into places like San Mateo, Burlingame, Daly City (the Westlake area is very nice), Pacifica, Belmont or San Carlos. I'm not entirely sure what houses are selling for in those areas, but you will definitely be getting something smaller than what you're used to. My guess is that you might get a three bedroom 1500 square ft in your price range (shocking, I know). A four bedroom a little larger would generally be in the Million+ price range. Of course, like you said, you'll want to rent first to get the feel of where you might want to settle. I can't help you with the comparison to NJ though..native Californian here. Good luck w/ your move!

[Chava61]

Walnut Creek & Lafayette are nice areas to live in if you are commuting by BART to SF. But they are probably too far if you are going all the way to South SF.

[aklein]

If at all possible you want to avoid a bridge commute at all costs. For $750K I hate to say it but you are looking at a 3bd/2 ba in parts of San Mateo, maybe Belmont and San Carlos and parts of Redwood City. Do a search on www.greatschools.net for schools. Unless your wife's package is really, really outstanding I probably would not move here. You might be able to get your 4 bd in Walnut Creek but that is at least an hour plus commute.