Relocating To Mountain View: Traditional Forum Assistance Needed! (San Jose, San Francisco: to rent, crime)

[Snatch Catch]

Hi, it's looking like my wife's work may be relocating to Mountain View, and being from New Jersey it's going to be a pretty drastic change I would think (except for the equally absurd cost of living ).

Here are some specs to work with for any information about the area that you would be so kind to help me with:

• Early-30's, married with 2 children (2 years / Newborn)
• Looking to spend around $400K on a house (we've seen listings are above that, but I'm not sure what houses are actually SELLING for)
• Looking for strong schools (a reason why we are willing to accept the relocation package)
• Looking for a city/town with a sense of community (i.e. has a town center, parks, etc)
• We like being outdoors (currently live on an acre in NJ)
• Willing to have a commute of up to an hour to Mountian View (is this crazy?).

Any information you all can help with would be greatly appreciated. This whole concept came up very suddenly in the last few days, and my wife and I have been struggling trying to figure it out. It will come down to the relocation package in large part, but we're still a bit concerned about finding an appropriate place to raise our young family.

I've been going through both this forum and the San Francisco one looking at threads others have made, but most of them seem to be not the demographic my wife and I are in. I've also been just looking up towns on the interent, looking at crime data, "best of" lists, and the like, but I think those things don't give nearly the same impact that feedback from people that actually live in the area can give.

Thanks for taking the time, and if you have any need for more detail just ask and I can give answers.

[StandingRoomOnly]

My husband and I are in our early 30's with 2 kids under age three.

We are homeowners in Morgan hill and LOVE it, but I wouldn't recommend commuting to mountain view from here. You are going to get more open space and a better quality of life for a lower price here, but that comes with a long commute for some.

Is your wife used to a long commute now? I personally would hate to commute more than 45 minutes to and from work every day... So much added stress.

To be honest, you aren't going to get in a good/great area for 400k. Home are still getting multiple offers in many areas around the south bay right now.

I would HIGHLY advise living as close to work as possible and rent for a year before you decide to buy. Plan on spending 3000-3500 a month to rent in a great area with really good schools. If you are ok with a 2 bedroom, maybe 2500 a month if you are lucky. IMO in this market where prices arent doing much, It is a complete waste to buy in an area you know little about only to find out the local schools are mediocre at best (and there are a lot of those schools)...especially if 400k is your max budget.

[StandingRoomOnly]

I should add the rent cost i mentioned above is for the NICE areas with top schools near mountain view....mountain view, palo alto, saratoga, Los gatos, etc... I guess it depends on what quality of life you are expecting.

San Jose almaden area may be a good alternative for you and your wife...not in your buying range, but more reasonable rent than the areas above.

[Snatch Catch]

Originally Posted by StandingRoomOnly

My husband and I are in our early 30's with 2 kids under age three.

We are homeowners in Morgan hill and LOVE it, but I wouldn't recommend commuting to mountain view from here. You are going to get more open space and a better quality of life for a lower price here, but that comes with a long commute for some.

Is your wife used to a long commute now? I personally would hate to commute more than 45 minutes to and from work every day... So much added stress.

To be honest, you aren't going to get in a good/great area for 400k. Home are still getting multiple offers in many areas around the south bay right now.

I would HIGHLY advise living as close to work as possible and rent for a year before you decide to buy. Plan on spending 3000-3500 a month to rent in a great area with really good schools. If you are ok with a 2 bedroom, maybe 2500 a month if you are lucky. IMO in this market where prices arent doing much, It is a complete waste to buy in an area you know little about only to find out the local schools are mediocre at best (and there are a lot of those schools)...especially if 400k is your max budget.

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, we both currently work corporate jobs in Manhattan, and have a door-to-door commute of somewhere in the 1:15 - 1:30 range.

We are fortunate though, as we went out of our way to buy our current house within walking distance of an NJTransit train station, which means 90%+ of the commute is sitting on a comfortable train with laptops open.

Our current monthly train passes are $400 a piece (yes, $800 total), though I expect we will probably give a lot of that back to the gas costs out in Cali since we will probably be driving.

[roadwarrior101]

Honestly, I don't think you're going to find what you're looking for anywhere nearby. For reference, we own a 3 bedroom townhouse in Mountain View, which is valued at approx. $700k. I don't think you'll get anything remotely in your price range unless you go far South or East. The other poster mentioned Morgan Hill and you probably can get something in your price range there, but the schools there are just ok. You might be able to find something way east in say, Livermore, but the schools are only decent and you'll have a bad commute.

[Snatch Catch]

Ah, I think I mislead you guys a bit by not being clear.

I didn't expect that we'd be looking in areas like Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, etc. because they're significantly above our price range.

I had been looking at towns like Livermore, Los Gatos, and even Gilroy, because commuting is a way of life out here in the NYC area and the distances those places are from Mountain View were doable in my estimation, but it seems like the same commuting rules/guidelines may not be applicable to this area of California?

[roadwarrior101]

Well, Los Gatos is even more expensive than Mountain View, so I don't think that one will work. Distance in commuting is one thing, but in the Bay Area, we simply don't have the caliber of public transportation that you have in the NYC metro.

From Gilroy, you can take Caltrain up to Mountain View, but there are only 3 trains per day during rush hour.

You can take the ACE train from Livermore, but you'll have to transfer on the VTA light rail in Santa Clara to get to Mountain View.

Neither of these options would be quick. Commuting by car from Livermore would be a nightmare. 580 backs up in the morning and I think that would be very stressful. From Gilroy, it would probably be slightly better, although still not a fun commute.

[StandingRoomOnly]

Commuting by car is much more stressful than sitting in a train to work...IMO.

But if you are looking south here--I'd definitely look at Morgan hill over Gilroy. Nordstrom and Paradise are considered the best public elementary schools in Morgan hill. There's also a charter school some really like and Stratford--a private school. There is a new law in Morgan hill that lets you send your child to a different school if your neighborhood school doesn't meet certain score standards...as long as there is space in the school you wish them to get into.

[Jarkatmu]

Originally Posted by Snatch Catch

Ah, I think I mislead you guys a bit by not being clear.

I didn't expect that we'd be looking in areas like Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, etc. because they're significantly above our price range.

I had been looking at towns like Livermore, Los Gatos, and even Gilroy, because commuting is a way of life out here in the NYC area and the distances those places are from Mountain View were doable in my estimation, but it seems like the same commuting rules/guidelines may not be applicable to this area of California?

The public transit links from these exurban areas are poor and you'll probably have to drive most days. I know you defined commute tolerance as 1 hour but I think it's fair to say 1.5 hours on a train versus 1 hour behind the wheel are two very different experiences. 580 and 680, the freeways that stretch between Livermore and the South Bay always come up as #1 or #2 on the region's most congested freeways list. Driving between Livermore and Mountain View takes 45-60 minutes in no traffic, and with employment increasing around here it can take twice the time during peak periods.

As others have mentioned, there is commuter train service from Gilroy and Livermore to Silicon Valley, but there are only 3-4 trains per day that run in commute directions only. Additionally, a lot of the workplaces in Silicon Valley are car-oriented office parks that are far from train stations.

However, there are lots of connecting shuttles and the mild bay area climate means bicycling the last mile is a feasible solution. Your spouse's employeer may offer some kind of long-distance employee shuttle, which you might want to check into. Also, a lot of the bigger companies give out free transit passes so if transit can work for you, the cost may be zero.

With that said, you may want to consider compromising on private, personal open space– i.e. big homes on big lots, since the Bay Area has lots of extremely large public open spaces that are very accessible. For example, there are a lot of public regional parks in the hills/mountains that separate Mountain View from the pacific ocean with hundres of miles of trails and rural vistas. There's much more frequent commuter train service between San Francisco and San Jose on the peninsula which makes transit a more viable option.

[marcopolo666]

Do NOT live on the east side of the bay, as commuting across the bay to MtnView would be horrendous during rush hour.

If you do a similar thing to what you did in NJ (live close to the commuter train) you can find a place not too far from a CalTrain station and commute on the train. Does your company participate in a commuter shuttle service? Either from Caltrain, or from various cities? (Apple, for example, actually provides luxury busses with WiFi from San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and other places for its employees.)

You are not going to be able to find a stand-alone, detached, single family home anywhere remotely close (60 minute rush-hour drive) to Mtn View for $400K, except in crime-ridden areas. I live in Campbell (25 mins to MV), and in my area, the houses were built in the 1960s, as tract housing (50-200 houses built at the same time), about 1500-1800 sq. ft. on 6500 sq ft lots, and are selling in the 600-700K range. Los Gatos would easily be twice than, and Palo Alto and MtnView probably even more.

Morgan Hill, as already suggested, is probably the best bet. It does have CalTrain (albeit only a few trains a day, so you better not miss it, or somebody will have to drive up and pick you up in SJ.)

Unless you are planning on relocating for "a long time" (say, 5-6+ years?) you shouldn't buy a house. The hassle of finding the house, paying all the fees and then spending all the money fixing stuff just isn't worth it. Well, maybe 4 years or more is a better divider line.

I would suggest (as somebody else already did) that if you decide to move out here, rent for the first 6-12 months to get a feel of the area before buying - don't feel driven that you HAVE to buy one immediately.

And I'll say it again - NO WAY are you going to be able to buy a nice house in a nice area for under $600K (except maybe Morgan Hill). And most places will probably be $700K and over, for an older house with needed work.