Moving to Oakland area from Pasadena (San Jose, San Francisco: for sale, real estate, foreclosure)

[westcoastbound]

Hello everyone,

We have an opportunity to move to the Oakland area later this year.
We moved here from New England last year, and it has been an adjustment, mostly pleasant. Pasadena is exquisite, but incredibly expensive. Are there any areas near Oakland that are safe, clean, with some bookstores, coffee shops, etc. that are affordable for middle class families? We're looking for a small city, 150,000 at the largest if we can do it.
Ideally: some parks nearby, mountains, near major league baseball team (we'll have the As nearby, but a minor league team would be good too), public transportation, near an airport, decent special ed. services, near an art museum or two, ethnic food options, walkable (a downtown area would be great, doesn't have to be real big), proximity to university/college.

I know, I want it all, but that's my wish list :0)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by westcoastbound

Hello everyone,

We have an opportunity to move to the Oakland area later this year.
We moved here from New England last year, and it has been an adjustment, mostly pleasant. Pasadena is exquisite, but incredibly expensive. Are there any areas near Oakland that are safe, clean, with some bookstores, coffee shops, etc. that are affordable for middle class families? We're looking for a small city, 150,000 at the largest if we can do it.
Ideally: some parks nearby, mountains, near major league baseball team (we'll have the As nearby, but a minor league team would be good too), public transportation, near an airport, decent special ed. services, near an art museum or two, ethnic food options, walkable (a downtown area would be great, doesn't have to be real big), proximity to university/college.

I know, I want it all, but that's my wish list :0)

Oakland has 400k plus people... it's hardly small. There are lots of small towns in the area and some might have everything you are looking for at a price...

What do you consider affordable?

[westcoastbound]

300 K max. I know, don't laugh....
a house is probably out of our league. I'm hoping for a townhouse condo.
I had previously looked at San Jose, and mobile homes kept coming up in my home price range. complete sticker shock

[llowllevellowll]

You can definitely find a decent townhouse/condo for 300k. And you're supposed to be around the Oakland area, right? How about Alameda? It's a beautiful little city of about 80,ooo residents I believe just immediately west of Oakland on an island. The cheapest condos I saw there were 250k (as of 2 months ago) but as far as I understand, there really isn't a side of town where you have to worry too much about being in a horrible, gang-ridden neighborhood. So I would imagine that you could find a nice little condo for 250k - 350k. Alameda seems like a really cool place that I'd move to myself if it made better sense with my job.

I've also seen more affordable condos/townhouses in Fremont, which would be second choice to looking outside of Alameda. Hayward is just north of Fremont as well and it's a little cheaper, but also more seedy.

Because I saw you mention mobile homes, there is a manufactured home for sale right now in American Canyon (about 45 mins north of Oakland) for $40,ooo. That's the cheapest thing I've seen in the Bay Area so far. It's a bad commute though if you need to be in Oakland everyday.

[westcoastbound]

Thank you for your replies. I'll check out those areas.
No, we do not want to live in a mobile home. I had just mentioned that b/c they kept coming up in a housing search.

[18Montclair]

^I was just going to say, Alameda.

However even in Oakland, $300,000 for a house means you need to have an open mind.

$300,000 for a condo is quite doable though. There is a huge quantity of brand new condos in Oakland right now-Im sure you'll be able to find something that pleases you.

Start here...
Oakland, CA, Real Estate Listings and Oakland Condo/Townhome/Row Home/Co-Op for Sale - REALTOR.com®

[westcoastbound]

Thank you for the link. It was recommended that I check out Albany and Berkeley as well.

[uptown_urbanist]

Good luck with your move. I don't have specifics to add, but wanted to warn you that we moved to San Francisco from South Pasadena and faced major sticker shock when we moved here. I look back at the Pasadena area as cheap, believe it or not. Granted, we live in the city of SF, and there are more affordable places around, but brace yourself for moving up the cost chain, not down. How far away from Oakland are you willing to look?

[City Boy]

Unless it's a short sale or foreclosure you will not be able to find a decent sized condo or town home for under $350K. 1 Bedroom yes, but anything larger than that will cost you $350k and up.

[westcoastbound]

Ideally, the community would be at most 40 mins away by car or public transport