Northern CA or Southern CA? (Los Angeles, San Jose: real estate, HOA, condos)

[gelaben]

Hi,
This is my first time posting. My husband has been offered a transfer from the New England area to either Northern CA (Mountain View) or Southern CA (Culver City). We are considering the offer although are not sure which location to choose. We are heading out to look at one of the locations although we do not have time to go to both. We have a 4 year old son so a family-oriented area is priority. We are thinking of Thousand Oaks which is commuting distance to Culver City or in Northern CA either Mt. View or Los Gatos.

Our priorities are as follows:
1. safety
2. decent school system
3. family-friendly/oriented area
4. outdoor space-parks, beach, downtown with outdoor cafes
5. we would like to buy-we know our price point will not get us much in either area since we would like to stay around 500k. We do not need a big house but would like some sort of a yard since we have 2 dogs.

Any suggestions/opinions on which end of the state would be a better fit for us?

Thank you in advance!

[Charles]

Thousand Oaks to Culver City is a rough drive during normal commuting hours. It isn't bad if the hours were 6AM to 230PM, maybe 35 minutes AM and 60 minutes PM, even if he drives PCH home. Excellent place to live for families though.

[gelaben]

Charles, thank you for your response. I guess some of his co-workers in the Culver City office commute from Thousand Oaks and they are able to work odd hours to make the commute a bit better. Currently he commutes into Boston from NH and it takes 1.5 hours one way w/o traffic and much longer with traffic and/or snow so 1 hr commute is not horrible. I think we are leaning toward TO although wanted to see if there are any opinions about the Mountain View area since there are more job possibilities for me (in the financial services industry) when I go back to work in a year. TO does sound like a great area and I cannot wait to go visit in a few weeks. I have been to Santa Monica a few times although that was before I had a family. Thanks again!

[CAVA1990]

As New Englanders, you'll probably find Northern California more to your liking. I grew up in Southern California, went to college and frequently visited family in Northern California and now live on the East Coast so have a pretty good perspective on it. I prefer the cooler weather, the cleaner air, better tap water, and the culture of the Bay Area versus L.A.

You might be able to find something in or around San Jose in your price range.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Both of those places are extremely expensive real estate areas. At 500k, you'd be looking at a condo with super high fees, or a run down shack. I would live 10 miles out and buy something cheaper.

For Culver City, some areas of Torrance would be right up your alley.

For Mountain View, I'd try Sunnyvale, or some parts of San Jose.

[capoeira]

I have lived in both areas and greatly prefer Southern California. Real estate is less expensive in Southern California,much better beaches and the area is more spacious instead of everything being jammed together in small areas like the Bay area.

I suggest looking at areas like Cypress instead of Thousand Oaks. Look at the map and you will see that the 101 is about the only way in and out of Thousand Oaks. Cypress is about the same distance to Culver City as Thousand Oaks. Traffic will be horrible in both cases but at least Cypress has several alternate routes available. Cypress is cooler,has much easier beach access and has houses in your price range. For a closer commute the previously mentioned community of Torrance is a good choice too.

Here are the lists of elementary schools filtered for 8 or higher API.

California School Ratings, school profiles, test scores - Los Angeles County

California School Ratings, school profiles, test scores - Orange County

California School Ratings, school profiles, test scores - Santa Clara County

[gelaben]

Thanks everyone for your responses! We will have to look further into Cypress and Torrance.

Mr. Fantastic, is that really true in this market? I only ask since I have found over 20 listings on realtor similar to this one:
3312 Big Cloud Cir, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360 - MLS #90010755 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

plus numerous similar listings on zillow and trulia. This does not look like a dump but maybe it is in a bad area? This type of house would be perfect since the schools systems look decent and the house size suits us. I know some of the listings are old on these sites but we have not chosen a realtor yet since we need to chose the approx area first.

We are heading to either Mt. View or Culver City in the next few weeks so I guess we can check out home prices then. We owned a few condos in Boston so we are not shocked with the prices or with the condo fees (although we prefer to stay away from condos due to our dogs). We paid $289,000 for a 350sq ft condo in Boston and luckily sold it for a little bit more. The HOA fee was $290 a month...no parking or ammenities. Not as expensive as San Francisco although Boston is still expensive (and cold).

Anyway, a bit off the subject. It seems there are a few places in TO for around 500k although it seems to be harder to find those affordable homes near Mountain View...so I think Southern CA is winning
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[Mr. Fantastic]

Thousand Oaks to Culver City would be quite a commute, almost two hours during peak times. SoCal traffic should never be underestimated.

Also 1300 square feet is pretty anemic, but on second thought, for a family of 3, not too bad.

I would still look closer.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by gelaben

Mr. Fantastic, is that really true in this market? I only ask since I have found over 20 listings on realtor similar to this one:
3312 Big Cloud Cir, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360 - MLS #90010755 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

Half a million for a 1300 sq. ft. ranch from the 1970's on a small lot? I bet it's a flipper that sold for no more than $350k in the last year or two. Realtors can usually make the photographs look good, but I'm guessing what you see is more or less what you'd get. The location looks fine to me as well.

I think your basic premise still stands. $500k could buy you a decent home in T.O. if you're in the right place at the right time. Nothing fancy mind you, but a single family detached residence that's not a dump, either. In some upscale areas, people are so into keeping up with the Joneses that the market for middle-of-the-road homes is rather soft. Many of the modest homes built in the 60's and 70's also have larger lot sizes than the newer subdivisions do. This is one of the potential advantages of living in T.O. -- you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a home on a 10,000 sq. ft. lot as long as you don't need the latest trend in architectural design.

But the commute...it's hard to put a dollar value on the time that will be subtracted from your life while you're stuck in freeway gridlock.

[gelaben]

I agree, 1300 sq ft is small but do-able for us. We have lived in a 1300 sq ft house-it really depends on the layout. The outdoor space helps alot when the house is small. We currently live/own a 2600 sq ft house and we do not use half the rooms. The house in the link actually sold for $630,000 in 2005. Many houses are below the 2005 value and I would definitely hesitate to buy it if it were not. Maybe they flipped it between 01' and 05'. We have never been worried about keeping up with the Jones' (we drive a Hyundai and an Aveo even though we could afford "better" brand cars). I am happy to hear the neighborhood is not bad, that is my biggest concern. I was worried most of these less expensive homes were in unsafe/unkept areas.

I am very curious to see the commute for myself. I understand LA traffic is horrible (Boston traffic is pretty bad too) but we are getting conflicting information from my husband's co-workers and the posts here on city-data. He has a few co-workers who live in TO and they said it takes them 40 min to get into work. I think they have switched their hours and work something like 11am-7pm. My husband also found a youtube video that a guy took while doing the commute. He was stuck in traffic the whole time but it took under an hour. Like I said in an earlier post, my husband's commute now is 1.5 hours each way w/o traffic or snow. In the winter it is usually 2 hours or more (which is why we have the Aveo...good on gas).
When we head out there in a few weeks, we will be staying in TO and my husband will be going into the office every day, so I guess we see the commute.
Does anyone here on city-data do the commute daily? What are thoughts on the Newbury Park area of TO? It seems like you can get a little bit more for your money in Newbury Park.

Thanks again for all your comments!