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Old 08-18-2011, 07:45 PM
 
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
6,288 posts, read 11,745,502 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkingThinking View Post
around 200k for a house, I suppose? Worst case scenario, If I don't get a job before relocating, aand he doesn't get offered a cost of living raise, 80k/year budget.
Believe it or not, 80k as a household income qualifies for low income housing here in the Bay Area.
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Old 08-18-2011, 08:30 PM
 
Location: Houston TX
227 posts, read 606,737 times
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I do believe that. I know full well we're spoiled by cheap cost of living here in Houston. The house we currently own and bought for 90k 6 years ago would be going for 500k in a similar setting in the bay area. We have a sneaking suspicion that our company is going to screw us.
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Old 08-19-2011, 05:08 AM
 
226 posts, read 1,124,355 times
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In addition to the below, look at my other recent post as it has some information that applies to you: //www.city-data.com/forum/20493609-post10.html

Quote:
Originally Posted by gone down south View Post
Don't accept anything less than a 30% cost of living increase, it really is that expensive here. Even then you're going to be falling far behind your usual standards in terms of housing, you're going to have to make some big sacrifices somewhere...
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkingThinking View Post
I do believe that. I know full well we're spoiled by cheap cost of living here in Houston. The house we currently own and bought for 90k 6 years ago would be going for 500k in a similar setting in the bay area. We have a sneaking suspicion that our company is going to screw us.
I agree that there should be a cost of living salary adjustment, and that it should be enough so that you may purchase a 3 bedroom home that is within reasonable commute distance to San Francisco (less than one-hour). Up-ing the home price budget threshold to at least 300K-400K would make the home search easier.

While negotiating a cost of living adjustment, perhaps you should not assume that your husband will only have to go to work once in a while? Perhaps you husband should plan for the unexpected and house hunt with the assumption that the company may increase work hours once you settle down in California. The last thing you want is to move somewhere with a two-hour commute, one-way, then find out you need to spend four hours in traffic everyday, two hours to work and two hours heading home, when work hours increase "unexpectedly".

As you will be looking for a job as well, you should also try to consider whether or not the neighborhood has access to employment centers in the Bay Area. For those living in the Central Valley and Brentwood, their closest major Bay Area service-oriented employment center would be the Tri-Valley (San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore), though Brentwood would be slightly further. For Brentwood and Solano County, Walnut Creek and Concord are sources of service-oriented employment, though Fairfield and Vacaville have a few business parks as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ThinkingThinking View Post
...Currently we're in an upper-middle class suburb. We're not fans, although it does have good schools and is a decent place to be raising our boys (ages 7 and 13) We're just tired of living so close to other people that we can smell what they're having for breakfast, negotiating the bland suburban streets and tract houses, etc.
A couple months ago, there were some rural ranch homes zoned to Lammersville School District in Tracy that were going for under 200K. However, ever since the slowing down in the review process for foreclosures, I have not seen any new inventory in that area, and slightly less inventory elsewhere for under 200K. There are still a lot of homes, REO and non-REO, that are going for more than 200K, though.

If you were to buy a home now, suburban homes in desirable family areas within a 1-2 hour commute with good schools, K-12, will likely be the prevalent option for under 200K. It might change in the future if banks speed up the release of additional inventory, though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by clongirl View Post
You might look into Brentwood--very family friendly, schools are supposed to be very good also. Also check out the Green Valley area outside of Fairfield or possibly even Napa. Livermore might also be an option. All of these towns are semi-rural, safe, yet still have all the shopping options nearby...
Quote:
Originally Posted by humboldtrat View Post
Fairfield or Vacaville, on I-80 halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento. Don't know what the schools are like. Tracy is also a good option.
If you do look in Fairfield or Vacaville, Travis Unified School District is the district with the better state rankings for traditional, non-chartered high schools and middle schools, better than Green Valley Middle in the Fairfield-Suisun School District. Serving both civilians from Vacaville/Fairfield and military families from the Travis Air Base, Travis Unified's elementary schools used to rank fairly well, but for the 2010-11 reports, the schools outside of the base don't seem to rank as highly anymore, but they still meet the state performance target API score of 800. To get your children into a better performing school inside the base, you would need live close to it OR apply for a intradistrict transfer.

If you choose Brentwood, try to find a home in the Heritage High School attendance zone. Heritage is the only traditional, non-charter Brentwood high school to rank 8 out of 10 in the 2010-11 state rankings.



Also, in addition to the towns already mentioned by other members and I, you might find one or two homes in Martinez, Pacheco, and Benicia for under 250K. Granted, they will most likely be either short sales, light-to-moderate fixers, two bedrooms plus a den or office, or, in the case of Martinez and Benicia, too close to Shell or Valero oil refineries.

Martinez (except for John Muir Elementary School) and Benicia have schools with good state rankings, but some neighborhoods are near or adjacent Shell or Valero refineries.Martinez neighborhoods south of Highway 4 and Pacheco are zoned to Pleasant Hill Schools under Mt. Diablo Unified.

In Martinez, areas directly south, east, and southeast of the refinery are "too close" as the prevailing winds in the Bay Area are from the northwest. I would probably also keep to the areas around the southern portion of Alhambra Avenue. In Benicia, the western portion is further from the refineries.

Last edited by tennis368fan; 08-19-2011 at 05:51 AM..
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Old 08-22-2011, 08:53 AM
 
Location: Houston TX
227 posts, read 606,737 times
Reputation: 116
Awesome post, thank you!

We've learned a bit more about what he'd be doing there. One of the main places he'll be going to is the Oakland Children's Hospital. I don't know if that has any affect on location?
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Old 08-22-2011, 10:28 AM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
28,226 posts, read 36,769,827 times
Reputation: 28561
Dublin/Pleasanton/San Ramon are about 20-30 minutes from the Children's Hospital in Oakland. Livermore is 30-40 minutes away. Tracy would be about an hour. MArtinez/Benicia are about 30-40 minutes. Pleasanton/Dublin/San Ramon would probably be the most consistent travel time to Oakland. Shorter on the way home, longer in the AM if it is during the commute, since you'll get caught up in the Bay Bridge traffic. You can go around most of it in the PM.
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