overbidding as of Sept, 2017 and questions about less ultra competitive schools (Berkeley: 2015, foreclosures)

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by joey_mcmarbles

I have found most people in the Bay Area to be down to earth, don't listen to this guy. With the possible exception of San Jose, the residents of most Bay Area cities are friendly, warm and caring.

Did you meet some of them at the Palo Alto drive in theater or malt shop near the farms in Cupertino and Sunnyvale? Or did you meet them while drag racing your 55 chevy down coffin road in Santa Clara?

[butercup]

Belmont would be a good fit - especially since you mentioned a 3/1 house - there's a whole large neighborhood walking distance to Caltrain called Sterling Downs which has a lot of those homes, and they re more affordable. The schools are 9/10, but it's as down-to-earth as you'll find around here with decent schools. Most everything goes above ask, 100-300 thousand above ask. When we were buying in 2013, we spent a lot of time on Redfin looking at and comparing list price to sold price, and figuring out the premium and the average cost per square foot. Good luck - Caltrain is the way to go if your husband's company is in proximity to it!

[dogandcat]

Originally Posted by joey_mcmarbles

I have found most people in the Bay Area to be down to earth, don't listen to this guy. With the possible exception of San Jose, the residents of most Bay Area cities are friendly, warm and caring.

Hope you are kidding.

[jeopardyd]

Originally Posted by fashionguy

Great schools scores also have inflated a lot since last year, especially for high schools.

Unfortunately, greatschools scores have come down very recently for schools with achievement gaps, e.g. those schools with more diversity or low-income students.

More emphasis is put on Equity,
i.e. "Is this school offering opportunity for all its students, or leaving some
kids behind? Successful schools are working to close the achievement gap.",
and in particularly, Low-income Rating, i.e.
"The low-income rating reflects state test scores for students at this school
who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch compared to all students in the state.

[sortaanonymous]

@joey_mcmarbles, I figure everyone's entitled to his/her own opinion, and I asked for people's, so I'm grateful to have Perma Bear share his/hers. I actually lived in Berkeley for ~10 years, and I have positive memories. The culture of the peninsula feels really different to me, though, so I'm trying to figure out if/how that would work for my family.

@butercup, thank you! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for. (I still can't quite get over the 100-300K over asking, especially when one considers it starts at 1.3 Gulp.)

@dogandcat, what has your experience been?

@jeopardyd--i think at some point i should read more how greatschools comes up with its scores. So it's not just a straight assessment based on testing?

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by sortaanonymous

@joey_mcmarbles, I figure everyone's entitled to his/her own opinion, and I asked for people's, so I'm grateful to have Perma Bear share his/hers. I actually lived in Berkeley for ~10 years, and I have positive memories. The culture of the peninsula feels really different to me, though, so I'm trying to figure out if/how that would work for my family.

@butercup, thank you! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for. (I still can't quite get over the 100-300K over asking, especially when one considers it starts at 1.3 Gulp.)

@dogandcat, what has your experience been?

@jeopardyd--i think at some point i should read more how greatschools comes up with its scores. So it's not just a straight assessment based on testing?

As I said you're better off living in the east bay if you want a semblance of down to earth because housing prices were sane up until 10-15 years ago.

[jeopardyd]

Originally Posted by Perma Bear

As I said you're better off living in the east bay if you want a semblance of down to earth because housing prices were sane up until 10-15 years ago.

But there is no good public transportation option to MV from anywhere in the East Bay. At least in the peninsula, you can take caltrain.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by jeopardyd

But there is no good public transportation option to MV from anywhere in the East Bay. At least in the peninsula, you can take caltrain.

Did you just say Caltrain is good public transportation?

[SportyandMisty]

Sortaanonymous, Please do not underestimate the negative health impact of the soul-crushing commute times. If it were me, I would absolutely find a place within a 10 minute bicycle commute. Even better: walking distance.

[sonarrat]

No way would I purchase into the current market. It's inflated beyond any reasonable sense because of prolonged low interest rates and giant corporations getting infinite monopoly money from Uncle Sam. That said, the prime areas of the Silicon Valley behaved differently and were more stable than the rest of the Bay Area during the last downturn, and were the last to feel any pressure.. but the "one step down" areas of Rancho Rinconada, Campbell, Cambrian Park and the like did experience substantially large drops.