Oakland is the "Next Great City" (San Jose, San Francisco: unemployment, neighborhood)

[sliverbox]

I had a friend who tried to buy a foreclosure in Oakland- as in one of those 150k-200k homes that was in a somewhat sketchy area. She had no luck. Basically according to her anything that was in that range was being bought by speculators- for cash. As in they would literally walk in with 200k in cash and buy it outright. Not many people have that kind of money to spend free and clear on a house. Thus for all practical purposes the actual price of houses ordinary people have access to is priced much higher. This was about a year ago do perhaps things have changed?

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by The Land

Then you should know the hassle of waiting around for up to a year for a short-sale or foreclosure sale to go through. It's a huge hassle and you'll be competing with 10-15 other people if the house is nice and not trashed. I've gone through the short-sale process before and it was a nightmare. IMO decent price in a good neighborhood would be 350K. I'm not trying to be house poor.

It is a real problem for agents/brokers... most do not have a clue in dealing with lenders and lender owners to get the deal closed.

On the other hand... he has shown me some fantastic buys that he was able to close...

Most of my purchases are as-is and for years just buying as-is gave me a tremendous advantage... I wouldn't have been able to pay retail.

350k was doable in last year in great neighborhoods with sound homes... it is still doable in some cases but you are right in that there is now much more competition now.

In all honesty... something is drastically long if you hung on for year hoping to close... typical is 90 days or walk.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Actually, Skyline High School.

38% Black
25% Hispanic
21% Asian

That's nearly equal in race to me. At least for traditional minority groups.

And compared to the schools I went to which would normally be somewhere around 10% black and 58% hispanic. Or 58% black and 15% hispanic for Florida.

Skyline is 10% white and nearly 40 percent black. It is nearly 2/3 black and latino at 63%. Thats not diverse in my book, considering

a) the ratio of white students in california's public schoos

b)ther ratio white population in Oakland. Skyline was diverse 15-20 years ago. But most white parents send their kids to Bishop Odowd now a das.

[Pongmeister]

I hate to admit it but NorCal does have a point. Skyline's white population representing 10% of the student body seems accurate. It's surprising how segregated the school systems are.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

Skyline is 10% white and nearly 40 percent black. It is nearly 2/3 black and latino at 63%. Thats not diverse in my book, considering

a) the ratio of white students in california's public schoos

b)ther ratio white population in Oakland. Skyline was diverse 15-20 years ago. But most white parents send their kids to Bishop Odowd now a das.

Fact.

Also, why does every Oakland resident bring up Skyline? It's one high school in the entire system. Skyline is very atypical for the Oakland school system as a whole. One diamond doesn't make the field of turds any more desirable. Is it really something to be proud of when one high school out of 20 does well?

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

Fact.

Also, why does every Oakland resident bring up Skyline? It's one high school in the entire system. Skyline is very atypical for the Oakland school system as a whole. One diamond doesn't make the field of turds any more desirable. Is it really something to be proud of when one high school out of 20 does well?

Oakland has more top scoring schools than Mission Viejo does...

Oakland Unified School District, schools with an API of 900+, 2010: 12

Elementary 900+
Montclair Elementary 967
Hillcrest Elementary 964
Thornhill Elementary 956
Lincoln Elementary 953
Chabot Elementary 941
Crocker Highlands Elementary 922
Cleveland Elementary 911

Middle School 900+
American Indian Public Middle 988
American Indian Public Middle II 974
Oakland Charter Academy Middle 954

High School 900+
American Indian Public High 976
Oakland Charter High 961

Compared to...

Saddleback Valley Unified School District, schools with an API of 900+, 2010: 8(only 1 in Mission Viejo proper)

Elementary API 900+
Portola Hills Elementary 925
De Portola Elementary 919(only one located in Mission Viejo)
Melinda Heights Elementary 917
Trabuco Mesa Elementary 917
Foothill Ranch Elementary 911
Lake Forest Elementary 901
Robinson Elementary 901

Middle School API 900+
Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate 905(Not in Mission Viejo)


High School API 900+
None

No wonder people down there are so pissed off all the time.

[18Montclair]

One can only imagine the tepid quality of their private schools.

[allenk893]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

Skyline is 10% white and nearly 40 percent black. It is nearly 2/3 black and latino at 63%. Thats not diverse in my book, considering

a) the ratio of white students in california's public schoos

b)ther ratio white population in Oakland. Skyline was diverse 15-20 years ago. But most white parents send their kids to Bishop Odowd now a das.

White people are a majority race in the Bay area, California the state, The U.S. as a whole, and the entire world as a matter of fact. White people are everywhere. So me, being a minority race, with other minority races having a population over 20% of a school with the exception of the over abundance of white folk in the bay area and the world, consider that thus, a diverse school to me.

[18Montclair]

Furthermore, Oakland has had the most improvement among the state's 10 largest cities.

District, 2010 API Score, Increase over 2009
San Jose USD 792...+12 points
San Francisco USD 791...+16 points
San Diego USD 785...+19 points
Long Beach USD 759...+9 points
Anaheim USD 755 +8 points
Sacramento 753...+9 points
Santa Ana USD 723...+18 points
Oakland USD 719...+26 points
Fresno USD 711...+12 points
Los Angeles USD 709...+16 points

They are all now in the 700 range, which is interesting.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

Fact.

Also, why does every Oakland resident bring up Skyline? It's one high school in the entire system. Skyline is very atypical for the Oakland school system as a whole. One diamond doesn't make the field of turds any more desirable. Is it really something to be proud of when one high school out of 20 does well?

The thing that attracts people to skyline is that it is safe. The test scores may not be all there, but your kid wont get stabbed in the gym locker room.