Moving From Chicago to CA (Los Angeles, San Jose: how much, new house, neighborhood)

[chrmer4u]

I am reviewing a professional executive position with a major company and includes relocation from the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago to the San Jose/Santa Clara area. If you wanted a larger home and property where would be the best? Any ideas would be great.
How is the commute from Concord to Santa Clara...too far for every day!

[humboldtrat]

The commute between Concord and Santa Clara would be ugly. How large a home and how much property are you looking for?

[aklein]

What is your price range?

[chrmer4u]

I am looking for a 4-5 bedroom home with 3/4-1 acre, my price range is around $3,500 monthly. I have a large family and am not a fan of neighbors in close proximity and I like to have a large property to putz around in.

My commute here in Chicago is an hour and a half to two hours...so I am used to that...do not like it... but used to it.

Thank you for the information, anything I can learn is helpful and appreciated.

[JkLiveWhere]

I think you'll need to either increase your budget or decrease your expectations. Unless you're talking about buying and you've got a lot of money to put down. I'm not in area yet, but what I've seen in that size online requires more money.

[aklein]

Maybe Morgan Hill might have something you are looking for or Montara. Not sure though.

[SteveCircum]

You have to be realistic about some things here. In terms of quality of housing or schools, moving from the Midwest in my families opinion is a step down in the SF Bay area. We live in the Mountain View area and to be quite honest, unless you are really making $400k plus per year, you will not maintain the same quality of life that you had in the Chicago area. In the Midwest your used to a nice home with a backyard, safe suburbs, and everything being spread apart and big. Here in the Bay area its quite the opposite. We have some family living in the suburbs of Southeast Michigan (Birmingham / Troy) and despite the economy thy consider this area a step down. What I mean by this is come see the area and spend some time in the non-tourist areas before you consider moving here. Go to the stores and try the everyday life.

As for the commute, the worst drivers I have personally seen in the US are in Northern California, and I travel well. My advice for you is that if your content where you are and your job is stable...maybe you should consider that.

Good luck with your decision.

[mdwstrnkid]

Your requirement for 3/4+ acres of land is really going to cost you. I doubt that there are many (or even any) properties with 4+ bedrooms on that much land for less than $1M in San Jose. Unless you are willing to put down a lot more cash, you're probably going to have a tough time finding a home that meets your requirements.

[zitsky]

If you are willing to deal with a 1 to 2 hour commute every day, then you can look in parts of the East Bay for large houses on large lots. You can expect to pay $1 million or much more for a decent size house on a 1/4 acre or larger lot. For example, in my Mountain View neighborhood there are new houses being built on lots that are a little less than 1/4 acre. I have a 1100 sq ft house on that size lot. My backyard feels big to me and has lots of trees, but might feel small to you.

As for drivers, only someone who has never driven in Los Angeles or Raleigh, NC (!) would say that Bay Area drivers are bad. There is plenty of traffic, but I find drivers in the Bay Area to be not so bad. Some folks are aggressive, but it's the traffic jams that are more frustrating than the drivers themselves.

[SteveCircum]

Originally Posted by zitsky

As for drivers, only someone who has never driven in Los Angeles or Raleigh, NC (!) would say that Bay Area drivers are bad. There is plenty of traffic, but I find drivers in the Bay Area to be not so bad. Some folks are aggressive, but it's the traffic jams that are more frustrating than the drivers themselves.

I have been to Raleigh twice and never noticed the drivers issue. As for LA...yeah they are pretty bad as well. But for the Bay area I think that one negative amplifies the next and thus creates a noticeable problem (traffic jams):

1. Inefficient road design. Whose wise idea was it to make an on-ramp also an exit in a matter of 50 meters?

2. Who taught the traffic engineers here how to time the lights? El Camino Real is perfect example of driving from one red light to the next.

3. Poorly skilled drivers. I still stand by my statement that they are pretty bad. Usually the culprit is a Prius or a Corolla driving 10 miles under the speed limit or someone deciding to hold all traffic up while they wait for someone to let them merge into another lane.

But if you have a convertible here you can enjoy the sun while you deal with these issues!

As I said before, theres no substitute for coming to spend time here yourself first. These issues might not bother you too much in the end.