Where to live with budget of $1.3M and good schools? (Santa Clara: new home, neighborhood)

[Sc49er]

We are a family of 4, with an elementary schooler (third grade) and a baby and live in a great neighborhood in Santa Clara. Our elementary school is great, but middle is so-so and high school even worse. We bought our 2000+ sq ft home new, and at this point it has appreciated nearly 90%. We feel very fortunate. We also have a dream commute - 10 minutes tops for both of us - we can walk to work if we choose to. I mention all this to make the point we have some excellent reasons to stay put overall!

We are evaluating our options at this point and trying to decide if now is a good time to move, and if so, where to. We would like to move to another single family home with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths ideally, or at the minimum, a 3 bed 2.5 BA home.

With a budget of $1.3M Palo Alto/Saratoga/Los Altos appears to be out of our reach. We are not really interested in Cupertino - a very high pressure academic environment is not a good fit for our son.

We came across Brookside homes in Almaden Valley on Guadalupe mines road and are tempted by the fact that the schools are Los Gatos schools, and these are brand new homes with a floor plan that includes a first floor bedroom. The first floor bedroom will be hugely appreciated by our parents who have mobility issues when they visit. The concern however, is that it is located across from the landfill/recyclery. This reminds me of Milpitas and the awful smell though when we visited, there was none. Also, though they have been selling homes since last September , and the prices don't seem to have appreciated much. This concerns me. Between this and the landfill, I am wondering if the demand is weak and worry that investing in a home there may be a bad idea?

The other option we came across are some amazing homes in the Los Gatos mountains. At the $1M+ price point, there are some very nice properties to choose from. The school district is Los Gatos and Loma Prieta Elementary and CT English middle school are quite close to the homes we are considering. We have lived in the mountains before, but in a starter home in Redwood Estates and it was not an experience we want to repeat. However the homes at the $1 M + Mark seem very nice.

The flip side is unless things have changed, it's hard to get service people to come up there, it can be lonely, and I am wondering if it will be hard to find nannies/babysitters willing to come to us in that location. When we lived in Redwood Estates previously we were child-free 20 something's, a totally different lifestyle than our present one with 2 active kids.

I would love to get some advice/opinions. Are there other options we have not considered? Issues we have not thought about? Private school is not an option for cost reasons. Thanks in advance for your input!

[silverkris]

Have you tried Almaden Valley (95123 zip code), zoned for Williams or Greystone Elementary, Bret Harte Middle School, and Leland High? You might be able to find something within your price point. And it's probably not as isolated as the homes in the hills you mentioned.

Unless you work for Xilinx, IBM Almaden Labs, or Netflix, you might find the tradeoff to be a longer commute.

[Sc49er]

Yes, the commute is a significant factor. It seems 17S -> 85N -> 237E -> 101S to work might be much better than 101N. Are my impressions correct? If we change jobs, new job will likely be even further north, not south.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Sc49er

The other option we came across are some amazing homes in the Los Gatos mountains. At the $1M+ price point, there are some very nice properties to choose from. The school district is Los Gatos and Loma Prieta Elementary and CT English middle school are quite close to the homes we are considering. We have lived in the mountains before, but in a starter home in Redwood Estates and it was not an experience we want to repeat. However the homes at the $1 M + Mark seem very nice.

The flip side is unless things have changed, it's hard to get service people to come up there, it can be lonely, and I am wondering if it will be hard to find nannies/babysitters willing to come to us in that location. When we lived in Redwood Estates previously we were child-free 20 something's, a totally different lifestyle than our present one with 2 active kids.

Have you looked into prices in Scotts Valley? Nice family community up in the SC Mtns. (Used to live on Brush Road - I know what you're talking about in reference to the vibe in neighboring Redwood Estates, which would be weird for kids). The commute wouldn't be much worse than any from Almaden Valley, which probably has more to do with those new homes not appreciating in value than proximity to the landfill, and you get more house for your $1 million.

[Sc49er]

No I had not considered Scott's Valley. Thank you I will look into it.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Sc49er

Yes, the commute is a significant factor. It seems 17S -> 85N -> 237E -> 101S to work might be much better than 101N. Are my impressions correct? If we change jobs, new job will likely be even further north, not south.

I'm not sure - both routes aren't very good in terms of congestion. The 85N to 237E route tends to really go slow from the 280 interchange due to lanes merging together. Then there's usually a long line of cars to go onto the 237 on ramp, right after the El Camino Real IC. Once you're on 237 EB, it's not too bad.

[spicydreamt]

Middle-school and high-school quality may have improved by the time the 3rd grader is of age, seeing how elementary API scores have been rising in some areas. Just something to consider as well.

[Sc49er]

Originally Posted by spicydreamt

Middle-school and high-school quality may have improved by the time the 3rd grader is of age, seeing how elementary API scores have been rising in some areas. Just something to consider as well.

True. But there is no guarantee they will, and we don’t want to find ourselves priced out and unable to move in the future. As of date, the Brookside homes and Los Gatos mountains are affordable with great schools, if we ignore the commute factor.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Have you tried Almaden Valley (95123 zip code), zoned for Williams or Greystone Elementary, Bret Harte Middle School, and Leland High? You might be able to find something within your price point. And it's probably not as isolated as the homes in the hills you mentioned.

Unless you work for Xilinx, IBM Almaden Labs, or Netflix, you might find the tradeoff to be a longer commute.

Actually, Almaden Valley is 95120. The 95123 zip code is Blossom Valley. Almaden Valley is a great option though since it's got great schools, is very safe and family oriented and doesn't have quite the high price tag as other upper-end South Bay locations.

[Sc49er]

Do you know what the 85 commute is like during peak hours? Is it better/worse than 101? Thanks!