Young family needs advice on Danville San Ramon Walnut Creek (Bell: cul-de-sac, HOA)

[Gocard]

My wife and I have been looking at neighborhoods in Danville/San Ramon/Walnut Creek and keep running into the same dillemma. Do we buy an older house on 1/4-1/2 acre or a newer house with more kids in the neighborhood on 1/8 of an acre with a small patio for a backyard? It seems that having a backyard for the toddlers to run around in would be great but will we miss not having tons of small kids on the block? Am I right in thinking that most all young families live in these cookie cutter, tract homes with only a back patio? Maybe it is a good thing, no maintenance, kids will be playing in the cul-de-sac. I wonder if there are any of you out there who have a young family and chose these newer developments and what are your thoughts? Likewise or visa versa i guess are there any of you who chose to move your young families to some of the older neighborhoods with a probable older demographic? My wife is a stay at home mom and we would love to hear from other stay at home moms. It seems that the schools are great in either of these dichotomous places. Also if anyone has a neighborhood that they love for a young professional family in these towns please let me know and state why you think it is a great place to raise your family. Any advice would be much appreciated. I am sure many of you have thought about these things previously and have much insight into this matter. Thanks again. Also can't wait for the boys to start tee ball, little league, soccer. I hear danville is the place for this. Thanks again.

Gocard

[tallrussian]

I disagree with your statement that new homes do not need maintenance. We bought our house as a brand new construction 9 years ago. It was built by Lennar. We spent a lot of time talking to Lennar customer service during the first 2 years of home ownership and had to be home at numerous occasions to have them fix various things, from minor things like cabinets that did not open or close properly to more major things like large stucco and foundation cracks. True, it did not cost us anything except our time and stress. But it was not zero effort either. Then 3 years down the road, two roof leaks opened up. Had to talk to a lawyer to get Lennar to fix that. I don't think the problem is specific to Lennar. In all cases it was basically the low cost subcontractors that were hired by the builder that did not do the initial installation properly.

We are thinking about moving to Danville within a few years, as our kids are approaching school age. I am half-hearted about all this new construction in Danville. I would rather buy an older house (maybe 5-7 years old) with a bigger yard and hopefully all of the "new construction" problems already sorted out. Plus, with an existing house you get an existing backyard landscaping, which would otherwise cost you anywhere from $25,000 and up. Another problem is that most of the new construction homes come with HOA (home owners' association), which is another hassle - additional monthly fees and restrictions on what you may and may not do with your property. Besides, most HOAs require new owners to finish the backyard landscaping within 6 months. So if you decide to buy a new construction, make sure that you put aside at least $25,000 for the immediate backyard landscaping.

[clongirl]

I've been in the same dilemma, gocard. I wanted a family friendly neighborhood where there might be kids playing in the street etc. We looked into some of the towns you mentioned and have discovered after living all over the Bay area and abroad, that there really isn't much by way of knowing if you will find kids playing out front. We drove around those new housing estates in San Ramon when we were looking for places to live and on a beautiful Saturday, I saw no children around. I've come to the conclusion that people don't really allow their children out front anymore. Maybe it's fear of getting hit by a car or fear from child predators, or unfamiliarity with the parents etc. I just doesn't seem to happen much from my experiences. So ,I would go for the older house with the bigger yard. I think your just as likely to find young families in older homes. If your kids make friends through school or in the neighborhood, then they'll have a nice place to play. I don't have much to add in terms of quality of those new houses though.. They're certainly big and lack character IMO.

[casey1996]

Originally Posted by Gocard

My wife and I have been looking at neighborhoods in Danville/San Ramon/Walnut Creek and keep running into the same dillemma. Do we buy an older house on 1/4-1/2 acre or a newer house with more kids in the neighborhood on 1/8 of an acre with a small patio for a backyard? It seems that having a backyard for the toddlers to run around in would be great but will we miss not having tons of small kids on the block? Am I right in thinking that most all young families live in these cookie cutter, tract homes with only a back patio? Maybe it is a good thing, no maintenance, kids will be playing in the cul-de-sac. I wonder if there are any of you out there who have a young family and chose these newer developments and what are your thoughts? Likewise or visa versa i guess are there any of you who chose to move your young families to some of the older neighborhoods with a probable older demographic? My wife is a stay at home mom and we would love to hear from other stay at home moms. It seems that the schools are great in either of these dichotomous places. Also if anyone has a neighborhood that they love for a young professional family in these towns please let me know and state why you think it is a great place to raise your family. Any advice would be much appreciated. I am sure many of you have thought about these things previously and have much insight into this matter. Thanks again. Also can't wait for the boys to start tee ball, little league, soccer. I hear danville is the place for this. Thanks again.

Gocard

It sounds like you're finding neighborhoods that have young families in the new subdivisions and older people in the older sections. Interesting. I live on the west side of Danville in an older section. The homes were all built 30+ years ago, and most of the lots are between 1/3 and 1/2 acre. There are lots of young families with children in the neighborhood. In fact, for about the last 3 years every time a house goes on the market, it's sold to a young family. Kids play in the front yards and the street, which I think is still not a great idea, even though we have minimal traffic. So, if you don't want the cookie-cutter house on a postage stamp lot, try the westside, homes are older with larger lots.

Good luck!

[AJ Cohen]

Good evening,
I definately understand your situation. I am an agent who lives in San Ramon and goes through the same problem with many of my own clients. I usually suggest a wonderful established community like Twin Creeks. I just helped place a client in a wonderfull 2800 sq ft home on a great cul-de-sac that had homes all around them that were filled with children and now he is the coach of his children's soccer team. Another popular option is the new communities in San Ramon and Danville that although some of the yards are smaller there are still many available that sit on lots easily as large as 12,000 sq ft. Another good option in Windemere are some homes that surround large parks, the homes are built facing the park, there are two perfect examples that just came on the market on Bellingham square. If there is any other way that I could help you out please do not hesitate to contact me at [EMAIL="ajcohen@apr.com"]ajcohen@apr.com[/EMAIL] or 925.819.2747.
Best of luck,
AJ Cohen