Married couple looking to move from MD to SJ Area (San Jose: lease, condo)

[MotionBlur]

My wife and I have been coming to California for the last 2 years now from Maryland, partly my doing to see if she would like it out here and secondly to get away from Maryland. This year alone we have flown out 4 times for 4-8 days at a time to really figure out where we like and where we don't.

We definitely ruled out the LA area and have really enjoy Morgan Hill, Santa Clara and parts of San Mateo, Milpitas and Burlingame. Yesterday we went around with a realtor in Tracy and loved some of the new developments, especially the house prices. The neighborhoods were quiet and very nice, reminded us of the nicest parts of Maryland.

I am a senior programmer and have been given the opportunity to work remotely from California, so my commute isn't a concern. My wife however, being an IT project coordinator will need to commute. Therefore Tracy is a bit out of reach. At some point I may want to move to a local job, so being some what close by (within 30-40 minutes) would be preferable. For reference, right now my wife commutes to Baltimore and her commute can range from 35-50 minutes during the week.

My question is, for a married IT couple with no plans for kids with a budget of around $500k what is the best combination of house/commute?

Thanks!

[gone down south]

I didn't quite catch - commute to where?

[jaijai]

I assume that you meant commute to San Jose?
I always recommend Los Gatos.
It's right on the other (eastern) side of the Santa Cruz mountains.
It's upscale and pricey but it sounds like you'll be able to afford it.
The downtown is a good one.
It's close to San Jose and it's only about 1/2 hours to the coast, ie; Santa Cruz county (when not during the p.m. commuter times).

Los Gatos, CA

[MotionBlur]

Thank you for the replies, since I've been back to Maryland work's been consuming my time.

I will definitely start looking into Los Gatos online and next time I'm out there in April/May I'll check it out.

[MotionBlur]

And yes it would be a commute to San Jose/Milpitas/Mountain View, it seems like all of the IT jobs are centralized there.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by jaijai

I assume that you meant commute to San Jose?
I always recommend Los Gatos.
It's right on the other (eastern) side of the Santa Cruz mountains.
It's upscale and pricey but it sounds like you'll be able to afford it.
The downtown is a good one.
It's close to San Jose and it's only about 1/2 hours to the coast, ie; Santa Cruz county (when not during the p.m. commuter times).

Los Gatos, CA

I don't see how this person would be able to afford Los Gatos. They mentioned that their budget was around $500k for a SFH. You probably need 3 times that (easily) to afford something decent there. I don't even think you'll get that in decent neighborhoods of west San Jose. You'll probably have to look at places like Morgan Hill/Gilroy to the south or Livermore/Tracy to the east.

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

I don't see how this person would be able to afford Los Gatos. They mentioned that their budget was around $500k for a SFH. You probably need 3 times that (easily) to afford something decent there. I don't even think you'll get that in decent neighborhoods of west San Jose. You'll probably have to look at places like Morgan Hill/Gilroy to the south or Livermore/Tracy to the east.

I missed a key point in the original post ... actually a couple of them.
I didn't realize that they wanted to buy property.
And i thought that their combined income was 5K.
Sorry to once again mistakenly recommend Los Gatos.
(that's twice in less than 2 weeks )

However / on second thought .... 5K for a town-home or condo in Los Gatos in a good neighborhood?
No?

[MotionBlur]

If it comes down to it $600k-$700k is do-able, but keeping it closer to $500k would be preferred. Morgan Hill is nice, my wife and I found several homes just driving around that were in our budget. But I wanted to make sure it was the best solution, having no one I know in the area for advice I wanted to post here.

I have a townhouse now in Maryland, ~2100 sqft, 3 story and 2 car garage. We definitely want 2500 sqft and a 2 car garage, no mansions or swimming pools needed, we both work too much to have a bigger house/pool. The reason for the $500k budget was the houses in our area of Maryland are around that, in the nicer areas it goes well into $600k.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by MotionBlur

If it comes down to it $600k-$700k is do-able, but keeping it closer to $500k would be preferred. Morgan Hill is nice, my wife and I found several homes just driving around that were in our budget. But I wanted to make sure it was the best solution, having no one I know in the area for advice I wanted to post here.

I have a townhouse now in Maryland, ~2100 sqft, 3 story and 2 car garage. We definitely want 2500 sqft and a 2 car garage, no mansions or swimming pools needed, we both work too much to have a bigger house/pool. The reason for the $500k budget was the houses in our area of Maryland are around that, in the nicer areas it goes well into $600k.

Well, if square footage and a SFH is your top priority (along with a commute that isn't hellish), then Morgan Hill may be your best choice. However, my wife and I chose to forego the SFH to live in Mountain View in a tri-level townhome for a variety of reasons:

-Better school district than some of the far flung suburbs
-Right in the heart of Silicon Valley (good for commute and home value appreciation)
-Better options if switching jobs (we can work anywhere from SF to SJ)
-More urban (to us, this is a positive)

[Nell Plotts]

What you don't realize is that the listed price of a nice home is like the opening bid in an auction. The RE market is different than what you have experienced. You really need to talk to a local realtor to learn how it works.

Most home buyers discover that renting is actually cheaper. Yes rent will increase but if you find a place you like the next time the lease is up make it longer. Also renting will give you geographic flexibility should you find other employment opportunities.