Moving to Bay Area from Philly: Need Advice! (San Francisco, San Mateo: real estate, foreclosures)

[meowtown]

Hello,
My husband and I are moving to the Bay Area from Philadelphia. We know very little about the area and so I am really hoping that I can get some good advice from you all! We are late 30's, starting a family, and looking for a neighborhood that has a decent commute (an hour or less, with less being preferable of course) to San Francisco and Silicon Valley (Mountain View). My husband's office will be in SF and I will be looking for a job there too, so that is the main hub. My husband will also have to go to the silicon valley office occassionally as well so we'd like something in between the two areas or at least not too far from either.
We are looking for somewhere SAFE, very good schools, ammenities like shopping/restaurants/bookstores, with nice two-story home options, $300k-$600k, NICE, friendly, well educated neighbors who are welcoming to newcomers. We want a yard and some land although we understand it won't be like in the NE. It would be great if we cold find a community that actually has a community, with something like a town center where people gather and socialize, and where community events are held.
Thank you so much for your thoughts.

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by meowtown

Hello,
My husband and I are moving to the Bay Area from Philadelphia. We know very little about the area and so I am really hoping that I can get some good advice from you all! We are late 30's, starting a family, and looking for a neighborhood that has a decent commute (an hour or less, with less being preferable of course) to San Francisco and Silicon Valley (Mountain View). My husband's office will be in SF and I will be looking for a job there too, so that is the main hub. My husband will also have to go to the silicon valley office occassionally as well so we'd like something in between the two areas or at least not too far from either.
We are looking for somewhere SAFE, very good schools, ammenities like shopping/restaurants/bookstores, with nice two-story home options, $300k-$600k, NICE, friendly, well educated neighbors who are welcoming to newcomers. We want a yard and some land although we understand it won't be like in the NE. It would be great if we cold find a community that actually has a community, with something like a town center where people gather and socialize, and where community events are held.
Thank you so much for your thoughts.

Weekends are slow on CDF and i'm not much help except to say that i believe i'm correct in saying (i'm just a little ole renter ) that the average price for a home in Santa Cruz county (which is roughly comprable to the areas you want to live in) was around 7K a couple of years ago.
So, you'll probably need to add a few hundred thousand more to your house budget.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by meowtown

Hello,
My husband and I are moving to the Bay Area from Philadelphia. We know very little about the area and so I am really hoping that I can get some good advice from you all! We are late 30's, starting a family, and looking for a neighborhood that has a decent commute (an hour or less, with less being preferable of course) to San Francisco and Silicon Valley (Mountain View). My husband's office will be in SF and I will be looking for a job there too, so that is the main hub. My husband will also have to go to the silicon valley office occassionally as well so we'd like something in between the two areas or at least not too far from either.
We are looking for somewhere SAFE, very good schools, ammenities like shopping/restaurants/bookstores, with nice two-story home options, $300k-$600k, NICE, friendly, well educated neighbors who are welcoming to newcomers. We want a yard and some land although we understand it won't be like in the NE. It would be great if we cold find a community that actually has a community, with something like a town center where people gather and socialize, and where community events are held.
Thank you so much for your thoughts.

The area between Mountain View and San Francisco is collectively known as the "peninsula." Most of it falls in San Mateo County. Very little of it is affordable, and the affordable part is miserable. Two-story homes with very good schools - Burlingame, Millbrae, Belmont, San Carlos (and the part of Redwood City with SC schools), West Menlo, Palo Alto - will start at $1M and go up precipitously with increasing quality. Just to give you an idea of what your budget will get you in detached housing stock:

1651 Alameda, San Carlos, CA 94070 MLS# 80902356 - Property Details
274 Aviador Ave, Millbrae, CA 94030 MLS# 80946335 - Property Details
1309 Sunnyslope Ave, Belmont, CA 94002 MLS# 80928851 - Property Details
262 B St, Redwood City, CA 94063 MLS# 80922902 - Property Details

And it doesn't really get any easier after you cross the bridge, because Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Mill Valley, Pleasanton aren't a whole lot cheaper.

[LisainCalifornia]

Your price range isn't really lining up with what you are looking for. We live in Moraga (very safe, known for great schools, very close to Caldecot tunnel for easy commute, etc...) and our very humble one story, 4 bdroom (under 2000 sq. ft) house would sell for 900,000+. If you want to live in a nice area in the bay area with good schools and safe--then that is the norm. I can't picture a nice area with the things you are asking for that has a two story house with a good yard for 300,000-600,000.

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by coyoteskye

Weekends are slow on CDF and i'm not much help except to say that i believe i'm correct in saying (i'm just a little ole renter ) that the average price for a home in Santa Cruz county (which is roughly comprable to the areas you want to live in) was around 7K a couple of years ago.
So, you'll probably need to add a few hundred thousand more to your house budget.

That should, needless to say, be 700K!

[hsw]

Have several colleagues in SF/SV who are Wharton undergrad alums; rented shelter in CherryHill NJ; and drove daily to Wharton (to avoid nasty crime of W Phila and absurdly costly dorm slums), so I'll try to put things in terms of Phila region

First, even in Phila suburbs, a new 3K sf house on 0.5 acre in a desirable suburb with good public schools (?MainLine suburbs (though IIRC they all have crappy public schools) or Moorestown) is not much cheaper than comparables in SiliconValley suburbs nr PaloAlto

Traffic flow from SF-SV is much, much faster than stuff in Phila region (or any other major urban region in world); CH to Wharton is ~15 mis and takes ~25mins at 7AM; SF-MV is ~25mis and takes about 30mins at 7AM....but we don't have winter snow/ice issues in SV, unlike Phila

Many yuppies rent some new condo in SF (not all that different in costs than newer, upscale condo towers in Phila); SV's economy is much more dynamic than Phila's, so many yuppies' income (and net worth) increases dramatically during their 20s-30s, so can afford to buy (or rent (know many rather wealthy <40yo Wharton alums with an intense disdain for ever owning illiquid stuff like real estate)) a new house in suburbs nr PaloAlto if/when ready for family life; those whose careers don't progress as desired tend to migrate out of SV to cheaper, less competitive places like suburban Dallas, where many major SV cos. have back-offices....

SV and Manhattan (and NYC's desirable CT suburbs) are arguably depressing places for anyone who is not upwardly mobile and comfortable around many of world's most competitive people who tend to migrate to these two regions

[coolwaves]

I think the biggest difference between the Bay Area and Philly besides the weather is housing prices. There's really no need to rush into buying anything right now, you can just rent for a while. You can still find reasonably priced apts close to SF.

[camom2]

Hello Meow,

I am a realtor in Morgan Hill and I can tell you that unfortunately for the pricepoint you are at, you might look into distressed sales/foreclosures OR townhomes. That is a tough price point for your wants up north. Now if you were to look for a home in the south bay (south san jose, morgan hill, gilroy) you would get more bang for your buck, however the commute would be an issue. The south bay to mountain view is very doable, its the commute to SF that would be killer, unless you carpool or own a prius then you could use the HOV lane and save lots of time. What is your time line?

Lots of luck to you.

[Austin Deeter!!!]

Originally Posted by meowtown

Hello,
My husband and I are moving to the Bay Area from Philadelphia. We know very little about the area and so I am really hoping that I can get some good advice from you all! We are late 30's, starting a family, and looking for a neighborhood that has a decent commute (an hour or less, with less being preferable of course) to San Francisco and Silicon Valley (Mountain View). My husband's office will be in SF and I will be looking for a job there too, so that is the main hub. My husband will also have to go to the silicon valley office occassionally as well so we'd like something in between the two areas or at least not too far from either.
We are looking for somewhere SAFE, very good schools, ammenities like shopping/restaurants/bookstores, with nice two-story home options, $300k-$600k, NICE, friendly, well educated neighbors who are welcoming to newcomers. We want a yard and some land although we understand it won't be like in the NE. It would be great if we cold find a community that actually has a community, with something like a town center where people gather and socialize, and where community events are held.
Thank you so much for your thoughts.

hi!
All those things you are looking for are extremely admirable, but the fact of the matter is that those requests are not reasonable for a middle class family in ca. It is too much to ask for. You'll have to prioritize. If you want a nice neighborhood you are easily going to be paying 800k plus for the kinda house you're looking for. Ca is rated 49th, only ahead of Mississippi, as far as public education goes, so there aren't that many great schools. SOME are OK. Also, Californians aren't big on communities. They base their communities off of what activities they like to do. Example: if they like singing they will have singing friends, if they like biking, they will have biking friends. If you want a neighborhood community you should move to Texas. The great thing is, though, is that wherever you move, there will be great amenities. There are malls and restaurants EVERYWHERE. People here are well-educated, if you mean care about politics, but lack certain common sense things you would expect them to know. All you have to do is ask "what do you think" about this or that, and you wont hear the end of it. They are also sometimes extremely rude, but just remember, they don't mean it, they are just VERY self-centered. Also- lots of nerds in the bay area. you won't hear the end of new technological advances coming out 2 years form now. If they don't like what you have to say, they won't listen, they will just change the subject or keep talking about what they were talking about. It is a very tough state and you will have to drop any emotions that you cherish if you want to survive here. they are just not an important thing in the bay area. you have to remmember the culture was founded around makin money, gold rush, computers. that is very much the state of mind. it's all about who can come up with the best new thing, not the quality of your character.

Good luck!

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by hsw

Have several colleagues in SF/SV who are Wharton undergrad alums; rented shelter in CherryHill NJ; and drove daily to Wharton (to avoid nasty crime of W Phila and absurdly costly dorm slums), so I'll try to put things in terms of Phila region

First, even in Phila suburbs, a new 3K sf house on 0.5 acre in a desirable suburb with good public schools (?MainLine suburbs (though IIRC they all have crappy public schools) or Moorestown) is not much cheaper than comparables in SiliconValley suburbs nr PaloAlto

Traffic flow from SF-SV is much, much faster than stuff in Phila region (or any other major urban region in world); CH to Wharton is ~15 mis and takes ~25mins at 7AM; SF-MV is ~25mis and takes about 30mins at 7AM....but we don't have winter snow/ice issues in SV, unlike Phila

Many yuppies rent some new condo in SF (not all that different in costs than newer, upscale condo towers in Phila); SV's economy is much more dynamic than Phila's, so many yuppies' income (and net worth) increases dramatically during their 20s-30s, so can afford to buy (or rent (know many rather wealthy <40yo Wharton alums with an intense disdain for ever owning illiquid stuff like real estate)) a new house in suburbs nr PaloAlto if/when ready for family life; those whose careers don't progress as desired tend to migrate out of SV to cheaper, less competitive places like suburban Dallas, where many major SV cos. have back-offices....

SV and Manhattan (and NYC's desirable CT suburbs) are arguably depressing places for anyone who is not upwardly mobile and comfortable around many of world's most competitive people who tend to migrate to these two regions

How about a pied-a-terre in the Hamptons ?