Brentwood: A good family community? (San Francisco, Sacramento: real estate, housing, income)

[CTTOCA]

We have 3 elementary school aged children. My husband has been offered a transfer to the east-bay from CT. He will be working in Bay Point.

I recently asked about Hercules and no one had much good to say about it.

A town that seems affordable and appears to be a good family place is Brentwood.
Are the prices cheaper because of the distance from SF? It seems that the prices have fallen quite a bit in the last year or so? Is the town heading for hard times (abandoned homes, lots of renters) or will it weather the housing downturn and remain a good place to raise a family? Are there plans to enlarge the highway that goes out that way?

We would be buying a house and are a bit nervous that the prices will continue to drop substantially.

Thanks in advance for any opinions you can offer.

[BearBranch]

Prices in Brentwood shot up ALOT during the boom. I like the town myself. I was actually looking at purchasing in Brentwood back in 2002 but soon got priced out of the market.

Brentwood is a bit isolated. Bay Point isn't too far away (Bay Point also has a Bart. No sure what the prices are going to do in the future. What is the median household income in Brentwood in relation to the median price for a home

[unomundo]

We're in a sort of similar position; 2 elementary age kids and 1 pre-schooler. We're on the peninsula (moved from NJ a little over a year ago) and simply can't afford it anymore. Just last weekend we drove an hour east to Discovery Bay which is right next to Brentwood. They have beautiful model homes in the $600-700K range and are even offering a "free pool" on some properties. We don't take advantage of being so close to San Francisco as much as we thought we would and so we're OK with being a little distant. I was a little concerned with these towns being too remote but 60 miles to San Francisco and Sacramento doesn't seem too bad. And development continues to push eastward. My sense is that these areas might be the Walnut Creeks of tomorrow. Walnut Creek is less than an hour from SF but is now out of our range. We're speaking with our realtor this weekend who will either say "you're crazy...suck it up and stay on the peninsula if only for the investment" or "you're not taking advantage of what the peninsula has to offer and so it is very wise for you to get into these areas now". We trust her implicitly and her opinion will be weighed heavily. I'll let you know what we find out!

[nooneknowsmyname]

A story about Brentwood that was featured on the CBS5 11 o'clock local news on 22 August 2007.
cbs5.com - Vandals Strike Brentwood Home In Racist Attack (broken link)

[CTTOCA]

The story of the hate crime break-in scares me. We are a multiracial family. Thanks for bringing this story to my attention.

[CTTOCA]

We trust her implicitly and her opinion will be weighed heavily. I'll let you know what we find out![/quote]


Please share what you find out. We need to make our final decision in a week. Thanks

[unomundo]

will do. we're a multi-racial family too so I'll keep an eye on this as well

[humboldtrat]

There are some nice areas west of Brentwood and south of Oakley and Antioch. This area is bounded more-or-less by Deer Valley Rd, Lone Tree Way, Balfour Rd and Brentwood Rd/Walnut Blvd. This whole area is brand new with new housing, new schools and new shopping with big-box stores. And they're STILL building in this area. I have only driven in this area many times and don't know much about any problems there might be there. But I was impressed by what I saw. Nearby, there are farms and orchards which will probably be torn out for new housing someday, no doubt.

[unomundo]

Originally Posted by CTTOCA

We trust her implicitly and her opinion will be weighed heavily. I'll let you know what we find out!

Please share what you find out. We need to make our final decision in a week. Thanks[/quote]

Our realtor strongly advised that we stay put for now. The market in the Bay Area is expected to recover 2nd quarter of 2008 and so selling right now will not get us much (except out of our mortgage which has a pre-pay penalty). She also mentioned that prices in the areas we looked at around Brentwood (Discovery Bay, Oakley) are still on the way down. Indeed, we were out there again yesterday and there is "incentive" pricing on new constructions ($850K homes with a $650K incentive price). Plus it's just so darn HOT out there whenever we go. So we're going to stay put and try and get creative as to what we can do to generate more cash flow. (We did have lunch in downtown Brentwood yesterday and it was a really nice area; good luck!!).

[wilkermoo]

I think that Brentwood is an excellent town to live in and it is only going to get better. Plans for a new highway that will extend from Highway 4 and connect near Vasco Rd in Livermore will open up the SF Bay Area to Brentwood and I think that anybody who buys in that area now will be very happy that they did in the future.

The city is also currently in the works to open a new shopping center with more high end stores off the Highway 4 bypass. The city also has plans to renovate the downtown area of Brentwood, which will also be a benefit to Brentwood residents.

The market in Brentwood is going down right now along with many other areas in the SF Bay Area. This would be a good time to get in, in my opinion. There has been a ridiculous amount of foreclosures and that has left many homes vacant and with all of the changes being made in the lending world it is also having its effect on Brentwood.

If you would like any more info on Brentwood please let me know. My husband and I spent the last year researching the neighborhoods in Brentwood to move here. I work for a real estate office that does business in that area and my employer has actually purchased a home in the town of Brentwood, so I have some good resources for the town. Good Luck.