I'd Like Some Info On Central Coast (San Jose, San Francisco: sale, real estate) - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

usschmidt · 10-02-2008, 05:50 PM

Husband and I grew up in Oklahoma, moved to Ohio while he was in the USAF, but have lived in the San Jose area for the past 11 years. We are so over the whole Silicon Valley attitude...especially now that we have children. We like CA but want to live a quiet, small-town life. Dh would be telecommuting, so employment is not an issue. We think we like San Luis Obispo, but is it totally unaffordable? We'd love to buy something under $350k so that we can also have a life kwim. Any insight/comments would be greatly appreciated. I'd also be happy to answer any questions if it will help in your assessments.

TIA!!!!
-Susan

Rhenzanite · 10-02-2008, 05:57 PM

SLO is pretty expensive. The average house price according to slowatch.com is $657,000 and I think that's pretty spot on. If you're looking for an inexpensive house you'd probably want to go to Santa Maria, but IMO, I wouldn't touch the place (and that's totally personal opinion). North County is pretty nice (about 15-20 minutes north of slo) but it doesn't quite have the same charm. Rent is going down slowly, so I expect home prices will do the same. I'm no economist though, so we'll have to see. In the whole I'd say SLO unaffordable but worth it if you'd like a beautiful place to live.

Snort · 10-02-2008, 06:38 PM

You could do OK by yourself with under 350K in a small place on or near the Central Coast. It's less crowded and the folks are fairly friendly in most places. If you don't find something right in SLO, there are small communities all around you also might like and that are better priced.

CA central coast · 10-03-2008, 12:11 AM

Under 350k, and livable, in the City of SLO probably isn't happening. Consider looking throughout SLO County as a whole. You'll find something now that real estate has been dropping. OK, OH and San Jose have hot summers (I think), so if that doesn't bother you, check out Paso Robles or Atascadero

usschmidt · 10-03-2008, 01:05 AM

Thanks for your replies! CA central coast, you're absolutely right that the places I've lived have hot summers...sometimes very hot. Do most of the houses have central air in North County?

Does anyone have any other rec's other than Paso or Atascadero? My girls are 5 and 7 so schools are a concern. I should have stated this earlier. However, I'm more interested in a good school, not "excellent". We're currently in an "excellent" school district and the pressures are insane as far as I'm concerned. I want my children to be well rounded, not just good test takers kwim.

Thanks again

sheri257 · 10-03-2008, 05:49 AM

SLO is still expensive. Average home price there last month was $500K.

Grover Beach is cheaper ... average home price there is $370K but not sure about the schools or the weather.

This is a listing of average home prices by town last month:

DQNews - California Home Sale Price Medians by County and City

CA central coast · 10-03-2008, 11:14 AM

North County can have hot summers, so I'd imagine quite a few have AC. Especially the Paso Robles area, which in general, gets a little hotter than Atascadero. The top two school districts within SLO County are Templeton and San Luis Coastal. They're highly respected. I forgot to mention Templeton. It's a community sandwiched in between Paso Robles and Atascadero. It's nice, but RE is expensive. I'm sure there are quite a few families who live in Paso or Atascadero that send their kids to Templeton schools. San Miguel, which is north of Paso, has nice new homes on the market right now. Surely within your price range. Not the nicest town though, at least not yet. I absolutely would NOT send my kids to the elementary school in San Miguel. There is a small country elementary (and maybe middle) school east of San Miguel, called Pleasant Valley (it's its own school district). I know parents who have kids there and they love it. Small, country setting. Unique to SLO County. Small class size, I'm sure their education out there would be excellent.
San Luis Coastal covers school's in the City of SLO, Morro Bay and Los Osos. Great schools. I was going to recommend Los Osos and Grover Beach (which is S. County) earlier as places to look near the ocean, they're close to that 350k price range. I love Los Osos and Morro Bay, I grew up here. But, I'm always leary about recommending Los Osos for some aspects. The town of Los Osos has to build a sewer, an expensive one. What wiil it cost? I don't know, it's so confusing it'll make your head spin. That's the draw-back, but, Los Osos is nice, near the ocean, near Montana De Oro SP, great schools, safe, small town atmosphere, no hot summers and reasonably priced coastal property. I hope that helps. If it was me, and housing and schools were the criteria. I'd say Atascadero and send the kids to school in Templeton or Los Osos, if you want cooler weather by the ocean.

usschmidt · 10-03-2008, 12:09 PM

I love city-data and all the nice people here! I've learned more in the last 15 hours here than from in-real-life people in the last 11 years living in CA.

Travel...how/where would I fly? We still go to OK at least once a yr since my fil and other family live there. (When we lived in Dayton we'd actually drive to Indianapolis and fly out of there b/c it was almost half the price of Dayton. But that was when gas was cheap and we were childless.)

Rhenzanite · 10-03-2008, 12:13 PM

Yes, stay away from Atascadero school districts if possible. I went through that system from the age of 11 through 16 (Ended up going to continuation and graduating a year early because Atascadero high school is such a joke). But Templeton... still not totally convinced it's as great as people think it is. My boyfriend and 2 of his friends went there, and while they loved their computer teacher and his classes the rest of the high school is questionable. The president of one of the high school classes went on to become a porn star, there are MANY drug dealers (pot and Ecstacy mostly) that work out of the high school (people who say it's rare or doesn't happen don't pay much attention) and if you're not involved in sports, you'll get ignored by much of the faculty. I've heard better things about SLO, Los Osos and especially Morro Bay.

Then again, many people have had a great experience with the schools around here and I turned out okay (and so did my boyfriend

) so I guess it's just pick what suits you best and keep an eye on your kids studies.

CA central coast · 10-03-2008, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usschmidt

Travel...how/where would I fly? We still go to OK at least once a yr since my fil and other family live there. (When we lived in Dayton we'd actually drive to Indianapolis and fly out of there b/c it was almost half the price of Dayton. But that was when gas was cheap and we were childless.)

Maybe a similiar situation here. San Luis Obispo has an airport. I don't fly much, but when I have I'd fly from SLO to L.A. and then on. I know people who would drive to L.A. to fly, because they said it was cheaper also. L.A. is a 4 hr drive away. Not sure if they fly to San Francisco or San Jose, or Las Vegas? There may be a direct flight to Phoenix, but I'm unsure.