Planning on Moving to Bay Area - Need Real Estate Advice (Jackson: living in, restaurants)

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by ssmaster

Do you realize you’re comparing systemic racism where politicians,business leaders , and law-enforcement iwork together to promote racism and discrimination with uneducated high schoolers

Yes.
Do you realize that California prides itself on enlightenment,diversification, and advanced thinking yet they still have problems?

[Blitz2014]

Originally Posted by jrb724

If you have the time, spend some time in each of those areas. They are all a bit different and really all good choices depending on your preference. Personally I wouldn't jump in and buy until you know what works best for you.

Most of those areas have small downtown or walkable areas. You certainly need a car but most have walkable areas close by and some sort of transit to San Francisco - transbay bus, Caltrain, BART, etc.

Walnut Creek would probably be the warmest. Albany the coldest due to where it lies on the Bay but not as cold as most of San Francisco.

Albany is nice with Solano Ave and it kind of flows into Berkeley. It doesn't have its own BART station but lies in between two stations and has a transbay commuter bus. Albany is a very small city and a lot of the housing stock is small.

Alameda has Park Street and a walkable shoreline. Once again, no BART station but transbay bus, ferry, and BART options not too far away. Great proximity to Oakland airport - you don't even need to take the freeway.

San Mateo and Burlingame. Both have small downtowns with a Caltrain station. Just south of the fog belt so should be warmer weather than SF. Great proximity to SFO.

Walnut Creek - Probably the largest walkable downtown of the cities you listed. You have a tunnel and bridge to get to SF. BART station but considerably farther out than the cities listed above. Much hotter than the other cities since it is inland.

Piedmont - Small city with very large homes. Same neighborhood/street can have huge price housing difference from the Oakland side of the street to the Piedmont side. Probably spend time in a lot of the walkable areas of Oakland. Transbay bus.

Recommend looking at statistics for schools and diversity. I'd say they are all above average school districts and some of them are among the top tier in the state. Diversity will vary in makeup.

Thanks for the summaries, very helpful.

Looks like I got my work cut out for me next few months, time to do some research.

[davdaven]

Good luck with the research. I agree with the summary above. As noted, while Albany is the coldest of the options I mentioned, it's still warmer than SF. Walnut Creek and places in that part of the Bay Area can be quite warm during the summer, and also quite cold in the winter.

[Blitz2014]

Originally Posted by davdaven

Good luck with the research. I agree with the summary above. As noted, while Albany is the coldest of the options I mentioned, it's still warmer than SF. Walnut Creek and places in that part of the Bay Area can be quite warm during the summer, and also quite cold in the winter.

Thanks.

I spent the past weekend on Redfin.

Albany has almost no housing
Same with Piedmont.


I'm priced out of Burlingame/San Mateo.

So after my research on Redfin, I think maybe Fremont/Union City fits my check boxes. The location and $ look perfect for me. and then Walnut Creek is a close second.

Lets see

[jonnydoe]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I can't imagine you'd want to take BART if you make $500-600k unless it's just to try it out. It is NOT a fun experience when you live here. So many crazies, homeless with crap filled pants sitting on the seats, which makes you wonder how many have sat in the same seat you are sitting in now lol.

Personally, I have been riding BART fairly regularly for 15 years and have never seen anybody who sh*t themselves or literally smelled like sh*t; but I have definitely seen some sketchy people on there and witnessed somebody shooting up arm dope once. That being said, I would think if you're used to riding the subway in NYC you'd be fine with BART; be warned though, it's not 24 hours and the fares depend on destinations unlike the 1 price ticket in NYC that you can ride on for as many stops as you want.

I still prefer taking BART whenever possible/logistical (I live in West Contra Costa County), to avoid the usually horrendous traffic and parking and possible vehicle break-ins.

Just my 2 cents. ✌

[sav858]

If you want a 2,500 sq ft house and don't want to spend more than $1.2 million not sure why anyone is recommending the Peninsula; most SFH there are like $1,000 per sq ft+, its incredibly overpriced for what it is.

Walnut Creek, Orinda, or Lafayette are good options and close to BART. Danville is nice too but farther from BART. San Ramon is pretty meh; very cookie cutter and no downtown or BART.

If you want "warm" weather, like 80's+ during summer you probably want to be in a valley. Places like Albany, Alameda, Piedmont, etc..are much cooler in summer.

[davdaven]

Originally Posted by Blitz2014

Thanks.

I spent the past weekend on Redfin.

Albany has almost no housing
Same with Piedmont.


I'm priced out of Burlingame/San Mateo.

So after my research on Redfin, I think maybe Fremont/Union City fits my check boxes. The location and $ look perfect for me. and then Walnut Creek is a close second.

Lets see

This is low season here. You'll see a lot more listings come this spring. Fremont and Union City are pretty bland towns, but if you're going to check out that area, might as well include Newark too. Very large Indian population in Fremont, almost to the point that it doesn't feel multi-cultural. Great food though. Don't write off Alameda, as I think it has what you're looking for and you can get a home there for an even million.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by davdaven

This is low season here. You'll see a lot more listings come this spring. Fremont and Union City are pretty bland towns, but if you're going to check out that area, might as well include Newark too. Very large Indian population in Fremont, almost to the point that it doesn't feel multi-cultural. Great food though. Don't write off Alameda, as I think it has what you're looking for and you can get a home there for an even million.

Fremont also has a large Chinese community, too, that's probably just as large as the South Asian cohorts. Not to mention Afghanis too.

C'mon now.

[fluffypoopoo]

Have you considered Dublin or Pleasanton?

[likealady]

Originally Posted by Blitz2014

Any suggestions for a couple in mid-30s, wanting to start a family?

Here is what we are looking for:

1. Multicultural/Cosmopolitan Area
2. Relatively good access to BART/Public Transport/freeways
3. Close to International Airport (<30 min drive)
4. Good Schools
5. Warm Weather (main reason we are moving to Cali)
6. "Cool restaurants"
7. Being relatively close to downtown SF (<40 min ideally)
8. 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom home. I guess around 2500 sq?

We lived in NYC x 5 years, and we like areas like Park Slope, Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) for comparison.

What do you suggest is a good budget for what we want? We are first time home owner buyers.
I was initially thinking around 1.2 million, but my wife thinks I'm crazy to spend that much first time. So maybe around 800k? I'm not sure. Should we rent initially instead? I just hate dumping money into rent, been doing it all my life. How's the housing market forecast in Bay Area next 5 years?

From your list of wants I would suggest Alameda. Multiple transportation options: drive (highways close), ferry, bus to BART. Very family friendly. Close to Oakland airport, not too far from SFO. ~20 - 30mins to SF. Small but decent downtown. Very walkable and decent in the diversity. For a 3/3 in Alameda Landing (new development) I think right now they are 900k+, 1.2M would get you a 3/3 for sure, but I couldn't say for the future how high prices might rise. Only problem is it's an island so there are only so many ways to get off it. I would visit and make certain you want to live here before putting such a large sum down.