Buying in Bay Area (Fremont, Hayward: renting, condos, townhouse)

[paladin732]

Hi!

My partner and I previously owned a home (condo/townhouse thing, 2300sqft) in the DC metro area. We have both moved to CA for new jobs (he is working as a programmer in Palo Alto, and I will be working for a consulting firm in SF). We are each in our mid-20s

We are currently renting in SOMA at $2500+ for 500sqft.

We are trying to decide if we want to buy again and we would like some advice

We like the idea of a new home (our last home was new construction from Ryland)
We are looking in the 500-800K range
We want manageable commutes for both of us.

Things that are important:
Restaurants
Gay-friendly (although, afaik the whole bay area is fine for that)
Shopping/movies/etc

Things not important:
clubs
nightlife (we are more the type that like to stay home and play games, rather then go out partying)

We have looked in a few areas already:

1. Dublin/Pleasenton had way too long of a commute to get to Palo Alto
2. Fremont looks decent with two complexes we like: Pulte Tavenna and Pulte Central Park Terraces. We especially liked Central Park Terraces(CPT) because they are detached single family homes and we can get a floorplan 2000+sqft
--Any idea what the price range for Pulte's upgrades are? How is the dining situation in/around Fremont? I am having some trouble finding a lot on it, it looks like it may be kind of small unless we want to drive as far out as Palo Alto and other Peninsula locations when we want to eat out
-- How is BART service? I would probably be taking the BART into SF if we lived here
-- How is the edge of the Irvington area? I was looking at city-data's data, but am having a slightly difficult time judging it. The area looks slightly sketchy near CPT, but not horrible.
3. Hayward had one place we liked, but the location was horrible (on top of a hill, that is only accessible via one road that is like 5 miles and steep)
4. Anywhere else you suggest looking? East Bay or Peninsula is fine, as long as the commute would be decent. I don't mind which public transit system I take into SF (and I'm willing to drive if the distance/length is not too long, I just personally prefer public transit because I can read while commuting then)

[mayorhaggar]

Since you live in SF, just take a drive out to Fremont on the weekend and see if you like it. It's pretty suburban but it's right across the bridge from Palo Alto and has BART access as you say. BART is fine, it's smooth and reliable, but the main drawback is that it's really expensive compared with other transit systems. If you work near Market Street in downtown SF then it's super convenient.

[charmed59]

Mountain View has some newer condos in that price range. As does Redwood City. Both are on the Caltrain run. (And if you drive, there is no bridge crossings to SF.)

[dragontales]

If both of you work on the same side of the bay then I would suggest you guys look in the peninsula. Daly City, South SF, San Mateo, Redwood City and so on. But once you wander into PA it's super expensive. Millbrae and Burlingame are nice too but are pricey as well.