How is this area of Oakland? (Nice: foreclosed, rent, violent crime)

[miss x3]

[quote=baybook;7930700]OMG.. once again I feel like we are sounding the alarm about gangs and dirt poor Oakland.

Here is my skinny -- and I'm from East Oakland. Born and Raised. LOL

The area may be sketchy. I believe you are close to one of the high schools or Junior high schools. (Can't remember the name). I don't think you are heart of where there is a bunch of drug activity. Tou can look at the crime maps and see what type of crime happen there. Remember, you are closed to Eastmont Mall and it appears that there are a lot of thefts there. I would be concerned about the condition of the house.

Who lives in that area? A lot of workig people. They may not make 6 figures, but they go to work everyday.

THANK YOU BAYBROOK! You were most helpful. Yes, when you add in cost repairs to old houses, you are looking at thousands and thousands of dollars. As far as the person who said it is abut personal trade-off point: ha, my tradeoff is keeping debt collectors from calling you and paying all in cash whenever possible.. no matter what your current or future income level.

PS I come from a father who paid CASH for a new Mazda 626.. cash (check in full). I saw i t when he sold the car to me. I keep a copy of his check as a reminder.. because everyone else tells you you have to get loans.. nonsense. Increasing income is the key.

I

[artemis78]

Remember, many of the families in those neighborhoods are renting from landlords who've owned the homes for decades (and definitely did not pay $114K for them!)---and in some cases the families have owned the homes for more than a generation, and also didn't pay that much for them. California property taxes are locked in when you buy your home and don't rise, for the most part, so if you've owned a place for 30 years and bought it for $25K, you're paying very little in taxes, so you can rent it out for much less and still be doing fine.

And whatever your field, the same regional economy factor holds true. With the possible exception of finance (concentrated in San Francisco) and high tech (concentrated in San Jose/Silicon Valley---but even that's changing), other fields are scattered across multiple cities. You'll probably want to look in multiple cities to find the best opportunity, and different transit systems go to different cities (BART, AC Transit, ACE train, Caltrain, etc.)

The cost of living in the Bay Area is simply extremely high, for better or worse. On the flip side, salaries are higher too. Starting teachers in Oakland make $40K-$45K, which is much higher than in many other parts of the country. Minimum wage in California is $8, and Oakland has a living wage law that requires some companies to pay as much as $12 an hour if they contract with the city and aren't providing benefits.

You're right that everything is relative. It's important to understand that whatever the dollars might buy you elsewhere, a house priced in the vicinity of $100K in Oakland is either going to be in dire condition or in a rough neighborhood---or more often, both. Middle-of-the-road homes in middle income neighborhoods run from $400K to $700K. The really wealthy areas in Oakland have homes that sell for over a million. Housing costs are a leading reason why people leave the Bay Area, and you will certainly get more house for your money in almost any other part of the country (except maybe New York City).

Like I said, you don't have to like it---but just make sure you know what you're getting into. Renting is really the way to go in any community that you're just getting to know, especially since prices here are continuing to drop. You've got time.

[artemis78]

Originally Posted by baybook

I'm sorry to say I think you are wrong when you post that that safe areas start in the mid 700's and up. Way wrong. I'm not sure if you believe that safe has to mean NOTHING ever happens, but that's not realistic in most cities.

There are MANy areas in EAST Oakland that are safe and have a neighborhood feel. IOW, there are MANY neighborhoods in EAST Oakland where I would purchase a home and be perfectly fine with suggesting that someone else buy there.

I don't disagree at all. My own neighborhood runs in the mid-400s and feels perfectly safe to me---but we do have property crime and (very occasionally) violent crime. We have gangs, though for the most part they don't cause problems beyond tagging. We also have BART and restaurants and parks and the lake and I have no issue with that tradeoff. I also love Dimond, Laurel, other East Oakland areas---but I don't think I could honestly say there's zero crime there. It comes with the territory.

But the OP wanted a neighborhood with *no* crime---and I do think it's true that the neighborhoods considered "extremely safe" that have transit (basically, that's Rockridge, and even that's a stretch to say no crime at all) start in the $700s for an average house, unless it's a fixer. That's why I suggested the 'burbs, since Lamorinda or San Ramon might qualify as closer to no crime than anywhere in Oakland. At the end of the day, this is a city. People live in (and love) it because it's a vital urban environment. That doesn't mean they're happy with crime---it just means that they balance that challenge with the many other benefits that come with living here.

[baybook]

thanks!

[naomisday]

Missx3,

You just have to come and see for yourself..there ARE nice Areas of Oakland including in East Oakland--you just have to come and check it out yourself...

Good luck in your move....

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by miss x3

sonnarat: Looking at the google map thing, it looks like the house is east of macarthur, but I don't know. Don't know the area. My cousin lives in Downtown Oakland and works at Berkely and never complained about gangs in the city. 'dirt poor'? In Cleveland a $114,000 house is considered good and middle class , which is the asking price on this house.. and though that is considered dirt poor in CA or Oakland, then CA has no idea what poor is. Of course, my aunt bought a little bungalow in Oceanside CA in the 1950's and left Cleveland permanently- great timing she had, huh?

Houses in East Oakland tend to be old.. 1910s-1930s, not as old as the Victorians in West Oakland, but still pretty old. Some of these older areas, like the one you're looking at, are indeed very cute and charming. But your neighbor may have paid $15,000 for a house just like yours. There's a big discrepancy in social strata between older Oaklanders and newer Oaklanders, just like there is anywhere in California. And there's also a discrepancy between flatland Oaklanders and those who live in the hills.

The median household income in Oakland 94621, which includes most of 68th Ave, is about $34,000. In 94605 - where there are many more newer buyers because of recent builds along MacArthur, and where there are more hilly properties - it's $55,000. That also happens to be the ZIP of the house you're looking at. And that house also happens to be up a little hill.

[ssmaster]

68th and macarthur -HOLY CRAP!!! look at this homicide map
Homicides in Oakland 2007/2008
there was a homicide 4 blocks a way at 64th on march 12th and eight(8) murders in a 5 block radius in 2008
i live in the hills and maybe i am out of touch but i would not want anyone i know living there
is the op and this thread some kind of joke?!?? a little sketchy wtf??

[miss x3]

Originally Posted by artemis78

Remember, many of the families in those neighborhoods are renting from landlords who've owned the homes for decades (and definitely did not pay $114K for them!)---and in some cases the families have owned the homes for more than a generation, and also didn't pay that much for them. California property taxes are locked in when you buy your home and don't rise, for the most part, so if you've owned a place for 30 years and bought it for $25K, you're paying very little in taxes, so g is really the way to go in any community that you're just getting to know, especially since prices here are continuing to drop. You've got time.

Property taxes that don't go up-- GOOOD! That is wonderful! CA , for its climate alone, is desirable to so many and hence, the high cost of 'living'. FYI: property taxes in Cuyahoga County (the city of Cleveland) are the highest in Ohio and some of the highest in the nation.. and for that, you get substandard housing, terrible economy for the past 40 ( That's right, 4-0, not 2 years) and no less than 6 'for sale' signs on any given street.. but, the rest of living costs are 'cheap.' Not to mention the lovely enless -10 degree days and 40 inches of snow we had in January 2009. Living and getting to work is hard enough, try doing it in wind and ice pellets pelting your face as you scrap ice off your car and shovel a driveway three times... all BEFORE getting to work and putting in your day.

REMEMBER THE OLD ADAGE: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
Like I said, I have worked in finance and can work in finance.(he or she mentions finance careers here) I don't agree, and neither do others here.. take it from one who has rented for over 20 years.. renting is nothing but throwing your money away every month. And you get 3 days notice , not a year or more, as in foreclosure. You would be better off building a shack.

Engaging in arguing is a waste of time, there are much more productive things to do.

[miss x3]

Originally Posted by naomisday

Missx3,

You just have to come and see for yourself..there ARE nice Areas of Oakland including in East Oakland--you just have to come and check it out yourself...

Good luck in your move....

THANKS NAOMISDAY! I intend to. My cousin lives in downtown Oakland.

[miss x3]

[quote=ssmaster;7934695]68th and macarthur -HOLY CRAP!!! look at this homicide map
Homicides in Oakland 2007/2008
ther

Wtf? What kind of way is that to talk? Decorum and common civility, internet or not. What is an 'op'?