Overwhelmed - rentals, schools - potential move from the East Coast (San Francisco: best towns, for sale)

[paperpile]

Hello,

We might be moving to CA from NJ, which we are told, has the best schools in the country. We are currently in a district that has lots of 9 and 10 schools, per greatschools.org. Personally, the schools are okay to me. Nothing to complain about, no raves though.. We have a single house, which did not exceed the 500K mark.

Briefly browsed to learn more about San Francisco and the Bay area, and I just can't find any towns with great schools in which houses don't start at around the 1million mark. I have searched in various parts around the Bay area, and noticed that only the East Bay area has reasonable prices. It was mentioned on here that Berekley and Oakland are not safe, and that schools are not great. Kids are bussed to schools from poorer districts, but I am not sure what that means and how bad that is.

We live in a very safe town now, kids walk to school on their own (not mine lol), lots of sidewalks, charming stores, restaurants, parks, town pool, etc.

Looking for something similar. I believe the job will be in South San Francisco. Willing to commute, spend up to 600K (preferably 450K and up - please don't laugh if that's unreasonable ) for a 3 bedroom house, or rent for 3K (modern condo rental is okay).

What towns am I missing? How far would one have to commute to get a nice fully updated house, with a yard that's a little bigger than 4000sq ft. Looking for top schools, everything else is secondary at this point...thought NJ was expensive

[pch1013]

Alameda is a very pleasant, family-friendly city with a reputation for excellent schools -- and it's safe, with sidewalks, charming stores, restaurants, parks, etc., plus a beach. Unfortunately, the commute to South City would be a pain (however, note that there is a ferry to the Oyster Point business park, so if your job happens to be there, you could take advantage of that). But if you can get past the commute difficulties, and if you can stretch your budget a bit, and if you can settle for a smaller lot size (a lot of ifs, I know!), I'd look there first.

[ccm123]

Some other areas:

1/ Albany
2/ Pleasanton
3/ Some areas of Fremont

You would be at the top of your price range (and likely higher) to buy a place in these areas, because of the good school districts. Your commute to South City would not be an easy one either.

[Cruithne]

So sorry to tell you but I think its possible the Bay Area may not meet your requirements.
There has been an huge upsurge in house prices in the last year. We live in the East Bay, My husband works in South San Francisco and gets the Ferry to work from Jack London square. The ferry also stops at Alameda. If you live near either of these locations, this is great commute and very convenient (35 minutes to South San Francisco).
However, you are not going to get much for 600K in a great school district. Good school districts in the East Bay include Alameda, Piedmont, Pleasanton, Orinda and Walnut Creek. I've heard great things about the schools in Alameda so this may be your best bet in terms of commute, but even here 600K is going to be stretching it and you wont get a big yard there. You have to go much further out to get that.
We were exceptionally lucky to buy in Piedmont during the slump, but now you cant get anything for under a million here and that will be a two bed, tiny, tiny house with no yard. All the kids walk to school here but its primarily residential, though we do have Piedmont Avenue nearby which has really charming shops.
I think you would be better renting for a time while you get your bearings. There are lots of condos in the Burlingame / San Mateo areas which will be a very short commute. Burlingame has good schools too, but I'm afraid again, buying will be out of your price range.
Your don't state how many kids you have. If you only have one it might be worth thinking about living somewhere cheaper and going private. The are tons of great areas in the East Bay with really good elementary schools. Berkeley (Elmwood area), Montclair, Rockridge, that would fit your other requirements. It is really just the High Schools that are an issue.

[paperpile]

Thanks everyone. Writing down all of your suggestions, and clicking away to research. Thank you Cruithne for in depth explanation, it really helps to see a larger picture! We have a second grader and a preschooler, so private schools are out of question for us. Up to an hour commute is fine.

[jade408]

Your requirements are pretty "unicorn" like. The problem is, the commute to South City is pretty crappy from the east bay. Driving will take about 45 minutes from Oakland/Berkeley/Albany/Alameda in a best case scenario.

Berkeley and Oakland do have good elementary schools, but in high school is where the problems start. Berkeley and Oakland both have a single school district. And both deal with "urban problems" especially at the high school level. The biggest issue is that typically the middle class and up parents move or send their kids private at middle school age.

Albany and Alameda have good schools, but you really need to spend about $700k on a home there.

Piedmont has good schools, but is out of budget. Orinda and LAfayette have good schools, but are also out of budget, and exceed the 60 minute commute window to South City. (But closer to 60 minutes than 90 minutes).

Dublin has good schools, and may have some inventory for 600k-700k, but the commute to South City is likely closer to 90 minutes than 60 minutes. I do not know how the school district lines are set in Fremont, but I imagine the best schools are in areas with homes that cost $800k.

Places closer to South City, in your budget, have average schools.

Rent or commute further, those are the only options.

[paperpile]

Are rentals snapped up immediately? In NJ, desirable single house rentals in the best towns go in a day or two (3K price range). Is it similar there? Wonder if I should search through Zillow, or have an agent send me listings... Any other local real estate mls listing websites to consider??

[Cruithne]

Yes good rentals can be hard to find and go quickly.
In the East Bay try 'The Grubb Company' who deal in sales and the odd rentals here and there
Oakland CA Homes for Sale, Berkeley CA, Piedmont CA, Luxury Real Estate Oakland CA.


Most people find rentals using Craigslist but I actually found and secured my first rental myself all the way from the UK (a lot of pushy phonecalls and emails later) using this Hotpads website. It has all the same things you find on craigslist but I found it easier to use:

Here's one in a nice area of Oakland for $2650 a month:
4610 San Sebastian Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602 - HotPads
Nearest elementary is Crocker Elementary which is a great school:
GreatSchools.org Search: Crocker elementary
The Crocker Highlands / Trestle Glen areas are absolutely charming.
Check out this typical street in Trestle Glen:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=schoo...55.83,,0,18.12




If you can stretch to $4500 a month you can get into the Piedmont School District:
78 Oakmont Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94610 - HotPads


My other thought is to find out what you are being offered in terms of a relocation package. They can be extremely generous here (we were very surprised) and you may be able to afford more than you think.


One thing to be aware of too when buying - the prices at the moment are extremely misleading. Typically agents are underpricing to garner interest. Many houses are going for many hundreds of thousands sometimes half a million over asking. It is far better to look at recent sales prices to get a better idea of what properties are going for. Check out the usual Redfin or Trulia for this information. Sometimes the sale price is shown within a month of the sale.
Heres an example of recent sales in Rockridge:
Upper Rockridge Recently Sold Properties — Trulia.com

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by paperpile

Hello,

I believe the job will be in South San Francisco. Willing to commute, spend up to 600K (preferably 450K and up - please don't laugh if that's unreasonable ) for a 3 bedroom house, or rent for 3K (modern condo rental is okay).

What towns am I missing? How far would one have to commute to get a nice fully updated house, with a yard that's a little bigger than 4000sq ft. Looking for top schools, everything else is secondary at this point...thought NJ was expensive

Not quite what you're looking for, but for 3K you can rent a 3br/2ba/1400 sq foot apartment in an excellent school district (high ranking schools in elementary, middle & high school) in Belmont (check out padmapper.com). For a slight bit over 3K you can rent a 3br/2ba apartment in Burlingame Be the envy of all your friends... living ontop of it all! - excellent schools, two really nice downtowns (not walkable from this location, but it is just up the hill a few blocks from the elementary and middle school).

Both are a short commute to SSF.