Fair Oaks vs Carmichael vs Roseville Rocklin (Sacramento, Arden-Arcade: best neighborhoods, for sale by owner)

[mixxalot]

So looks like I am able to work remote long term into the future so I can buy outside of downtown. What are your thoughts on Fair Oaks and Carmichael versus Roseville and Rocklin areas? I'd love a place with solar and a pool as it gets quite hot here. Schools are not important as I am single no kids and want a low crime area. Budget under 600k.

[Igor Blevin]

You can't go wrong with any of the 3 locations and can afford a nice home in all 3 if you don't need a McMansion.

Carmichael is the oldest and most built in. I much prefer the southern portion of Carmichael by Arden-Arcade. The northern portion is not as nice and crime is higher. I am not crazy abou northwestern Carmichael. If you stay to outheast, you can find beautiful areas to buy in. Overall, the closer you are to the American River, the nicer the neighborhoods, but $600k doesn't go as far.

I prefer Rocklin to Roseville but it is more of a bedroom community while Roseville has more shopping and night life. In either Rocklin or Roseville, I would stay away from Interstate 80, and the further the better to be in the best neighborhoods. I am not speaking from experience, but that has always been my impression when visiting. Like all generalizations, there will be exceptions of course.

Fair Oaks is beautiful and built in as well. Very quiet and rural feeling. Fair Oaks feels kind of isolated to me. I guess it depends on where in Fair Oaks. I mean, you zip up Sunrise Blvd and you are right at Sunrise/Birdcage Mall. The closer to the river, the more isolated, I guess. Again, the closer to the American River, the nicer Fair Oaks gets, and of course the more expensive.

I prefer Folsom to Fair Oaks, but it may not be on your list of candidates. Folsom is really popular right now and for good reason, so prices are up and probably the worst bang for the buck. Beautiful historic down town, lots of trails, close to the lake, and you can zip right up Highway 50 to Lake Tahoe. I like Folsom.

The best places are Granite Bay and El Dorado Hills, but they are uber expensive and really isolate. Just endless bedroom communties with a smattering of shopping and not a lot else. And you don't need a good school system, so there is that.


Median home prices

Rocklin ----- $450k
Roseville --- $420k
Carmichael - $360k
Fair Oaks -- $450k
Folsom ----- $490k


I don't think crime is bad in any of the areas except northwest Carmichal, but I would rank them like this.

Rocklin - lowest crime
Folsom
Fair Oaks
SE Carmichael
Roseville
NW Carmichael - highest crime


Traffic is worst on I-80, so if you live in Rocklin or Roseville and can't continue to work from home, your commute will be hell. The commute in from Folsom & Fair Oaks is not easy but 50 inbound in the morning is vastly better than 80 inbound in the morning.

Roseville and Rocklin have the best nightlife. Not that it is saying much, but it has some. The others are really family/bedroom communities and are wonderful for peace and quite, but may be too quiet for someone young and single. But you will need to go downtown for any serious night life anyway. Carmichael puts you closest to downtown night life.


I would pick Folsom without blinking, but that is just me. 2nd choice would be Rocklin, in a heartbeat. If I had to put them in order of priority for myself, I would do it like this.

Tier I
1. Folsom
2. Rocklin

Tier II
1. Southwest Carmichael
2. Fair Oaks
3. Roseville


You certainly can't go wrong with any of them. All are great areas.

[mixxalot]

@Igor thank you that is super helpful! I am pre-approved but need good realtor. So far my experience with agents in the Sacramento area has been hit or miss. I had one pass me off to one of their buddy assistants and had bad experience. Then another flaked on me. If only buying a home direct was possible and I could setup the inspections and paperwork with an attorney and title/escrow company on my own but properties for sale by owner are few and far between unfortunately. Originally was looking closer to downtown but with COVID19 it has changed the game to me telework into the future which is good.

[shelato]

Originally Posted by mixxalot

So looks like I am able to work remote long term into the future so I can buy outside of downtown. What are your thoughts on Fair Oaks and Carmichael versus Roseville and Rocklin areas? I'd love a place with solar and a pool as it gets quite hot here. Schools are not important as I am single no kids and want a low crime area. Budget under 600k.

I realize you are working long term from home, but I imagine that intermittently you still have to work downtown.

So if I was looking at Carmichael I would give serious consideration to living within walking distance rt route 129. Its a direct route downtown with no forced transfer to light rail so its quick. I would also give serious consideration to Garden of the Gods its the neighborhood behind Whole Foods its between Mission and Eastern and Cottage and Arden. Its a short bus trip downtown, the neighborhood is solid and its in your price range.

129 - ARDEN COMMUTER

In Fair Oaks I would probably look at old Fair Oaks Village, where if necessary there is a direct bike path to the Sunrise Light rail station if you did need to go downtown.

Roseville and Rocklin are both nice. In Roseville, I would look at Royer Park. The City of Roseville keeps investing more money trying to turn historic Roseville into some sort of dining/entertainment zone. I think it will probably work. Royer Park is close enough to historic Roseville where I think it will help this area appreciate faster than the rest of Roseville, but the Royer Park and historic Roseville create enough of a barrier where you don't really hear the train noise.

[Chimérique]

I would rank them like this:

1. Fair Oaks
2. SE Carmichael
3. Folsom
4. Roseville
5. Rocklin

I like being near the American River and Folsom Lake, so that's why Fair Oaks, Carmichael, and Folsom are higher on the list than Roseville-Rocklin.

I like them all. Note, the South Area, Greenhaven, Pocket, Elk Grove, etc. are almost always cooler than the NorthEast part of the Metro in the summer because of Delta Breeze.

[mixxalot]

Folsom would be my top pick and they even have a light rail station. Second would be Fair Oaks/Carmichael close to commuter centers. Based on what I know, everyone in IT at the state is telework to end of year for the most part and long term will be as well.

[2sleepy]

If I had it to do over again I would never, ever move to any unincorporated area of Sacramento County. There is virtually no law enforcement, if you have to call 911 it can easily be a 40 minute wait. The Sheriff's Dept doesn't do any routine patrols, only time I see them is when they are at a local pizza place or in line at Dutch Bros. There is zero traffic enforcement, people routinely drive 60 mph on streets like Fair Oaks or El Camino. CHP only seems to respond to injury accidents I've never seen one single car pulled over, a lot of people don't even bother putting license plates on their cars, instead they put those paper plates that they put on the cars at dealerships.

The streets are full of pot holes, there are no street lights in most of the older residential areas so they are pitch black at night and fair pickins for any enterprising thief who happens to wander by. And you have to be real careful walking on major streets because many of them have no sidewalk.

The county is broke from paying off the Sheriff's lawsuits which amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, then on top of that the Board of Supervisors lost a lawsuit brought by two gravel companies who were forced out of business by supervisors who were trying to aid Teichert construction, that lawsuit cost 107 million. The Supervisors are bought and paid for either by developers or law enforcement. Move to Rocklin, Roseville, Folsom, Sac City, West Sac or anywhere other than an unincorporated areas in the County.

[mixxalot]

Thanks @2sleepy that is very helpful information. By unincorporated areas of Sacramento county are you referring to places like Fair Oaks and Carmichael? Super wealthy elite gov Newsome lives in Fair Oaks but he has private security most likely.

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by mixxalot

@Igor thank you that is super helpful! I am pre-approved but need good realtor. So far my experience with agents in the Sacramento area has been hit or miss. I had one pass me off to one of their buddy assistants and had bad experience. Then another flaked on me. If only buying a home direct was possible and I could setup the inspections and paperwork with an attorney and title/escrow company on my own but properties for sale by owner are few and far between unfortunately. Originally was looking closer to downtown but with COVID19 it has changed the game to me telework into the future which is good.

You are very welcome.

Good luck with the home search. It can be a lot of fun. Trying to find a good realtor is important and difficult. I wish I could recommend one, sorry.

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

If I had it to do over again I would never, ever move to any unincorporated area of Sacramento County. There is virtually no law enforcement, if you have to call 911 it can easily be a 40 minute wait. The Sheriff's Dept doesn't do any routine patrols, only time I see them is when they are at a local pizza place or in line at Dutch Bros. There is zero traffic enforcement, people routinely drive 60 mph on streets like Fair Oaks or El Camino. CHP only seems to respond to injury accidents I've never seen one single car pulled over, a lot of people don't even bother putting license plates on their cars, instead they put those paper plates that they put on the cars at dealerships.

The streets are full of pot holes, there are no street lights in most of the older residential areas so they are pitch black at night and fair pickins for any enterprising thief who happens to wander by. And you have to be real careful walking on major streets because many of them have no sidewalk.

The county is broke from paying off the Sheriff's lawsuits which amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, then on top of that the Board of Supervisors lost a lawsuit brought by two gravel companies who were forced out of business by supervisors who were trying to aid Teichert construction, that lawsuit cost 107 million. The Supervisors are bought and paid for either by developers or law enforcement. Move to Rocklin, Roseville, Folsom, Sac City, West Sac or anywhere other than an unincorporated areas in the County.

Last year, the County of Sacramento had a budget deficit of $55 million. This year, the City of Sacramento has a budget deficit of $90 million. I'm not seeing where the City is better than the County.

I think the streets and roads in the City of Sacramento are in worse shape than in the County of Sacramento, by and large.

Yes, lots of safe, quiet, old built-in neighborhoods outside of Sacramento City have peaceful, dark steets without a glaring overhead LED streetlight every 100 yards. Some of us like that. If you live in a safe neighborhood with very low crime, I don't see the issue.

All of this only pertains to Carmichael, since Folsom, Fair Oaks, and Rocklin are cities in their own right. I would not hesitate to live in southeastern Carmichael. It is clean, safe, nice, peaceful with people who keep up their lawns, don't have broken down cars and boats in the driveway, and no hurricane fences surrounding front yards.

All of the places the OP is considering are great places to live. I don't think it is fair to say that neighborhoods are better within the city limits of Sacramento, than the county. Or maybe you were referring to the outer suburbs, I don't know. But southeast Carmichael is still a dandy place to live, even if I would choose Folsom over it in a heart-beat.