Another Boring "Help Me Figure Out Where to Live" Thread! (San Francisco: real estate, houses)

[BadgerNCarolina]

Okay - So I know there are 100 of these, but since every situation is different I thought I'd post our details and see if you wonderful people could help me figure out first IF, then where to move to.

I have a wife and daughter (entering middle school), and the potential for 2 job offers (one will pay 160-170k with an incredible company with great benefits, the other will pay 200k or so but much nowhere near as good a company). Here are the criteria:

1) Want to live close enough to South San Francisco so I don't have to drive an hour plus like I did when we lived here the first time, and I was in Dublin.
2) Good schools and safe.
3) Warm weather - similar to Dublin if possible.
4) Purchase a house, preferably newer housing, but not a must have.

My wife is a bit nervous about us moving out there and making it financially. So - I'd like to get opinions on whether people think we can make it work, and if so - where?

Oh - and she is considering working to supplement the income, but not sure if we want to do that immediately with the adjustment to a new school and area for our daughter.

HELP!

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

If you lived here before, why don't you know your answers?

Warm weather is farther away from the coast.

Anywhere close to South San Francisco will not be far from a coast (either the ocean or the Bay, since it's on a peninsula).

Use Google. Use Google Maps. Use Craiglsist. Use Realtor.com.

I could figure out how to live on your salary. But, I have no idea if you can.

[Ruth4Truth]

Go for less money, better company, great benefits. The great benefits should save you some money in the end. And maybe the great company will give you better raises.

As you must know already, the great (warm) weather is on the other side of the Berkeley hills. Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek. All have great schools. Depending on how long a commute you want to endure, you could take BART from there to the nearest station to So. San Fran. Just a thought.

If you want to live closer to work, you'll have to sacrifice on your ideal temp. Unless the drought and heat become a routine thing, ha.

Look up real estate listings in the different cities on the Peninsula (and Orinda, etc., if that's acceptable to you), to check for home affordability.

[BadgerNCarolina]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

If you lived here before, why don't you know your answers?

Warm weather is farther away from the coast.

Anywhere close to South San Francisco will not be far from a coast (either the ocean or the Bay, since it's on a peninsula).

Use Google. Use Google Maps. Use Craiglsist. Use Realtor.com.

I could figure out how to live on your salary. But, I have no idea if you can.

Thanks for this INCREDIBLY helpful reply. Believe it or not - I'm doing all of those things as well. This is one more piece of data, making sure I haven't missed anything. I know every single piece of data from the last 10 years of my life, and will be able to put together a budget, I'm sure, that will work.
Also - I lived out there for 1 year in 2009, and didn't purchase a home (rented a place for $2500). This time I want to set roots if I am going to move again.

I will move on to the next person, the one who's trying to help.

[BadgerNCarolina]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Go for less money, better company, great benefits. The great benefits should save you some money in the end. And maybe the great company will give you better raises.

As you must know already, the great (warm) weather is on the other side of the Berkeley hills. Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek. All have great schools. Depending on how long a commute you want to endure, you could take BART from there to the nearest station to So. San Fran. Just a thought.

If you want to live closer to work, you'll have to sacrifice on your ideal temp. Unless the drought and heat become a routine thing, ha.

Look up real estate listings in the different cities on the Peninsula (and Orinda, etc., if that's acceptable to you), to check for home affordability.

Thanks Ruth! The 'great' company I mentioned does have a bus that takes people around the city, so that would be a HUGE advantage. I've seen the schedule, and they go out to Pleasant Hill BART, so Walnut Creek is an option. Also, because it has WiFi, I should be able to work on the bus.
I do remember the traffic being awful on the Bay Bridge, however, and don't know if the Bus can avoid most of that in the carpool lane??

The bolded line above is the one that I think my wife will have the greatest struggle with. I'm good with the cooler temps, but this one may be the one that seals it for us. This, plus the newer housing thing, makes me think it's the 3 above or nothing.

Thanks again!

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by BadgerNCarolina

Here are the criteria:

1) Want to live close enough to South San Francisco so I don't have to drive an hour plus like I did when we lived here the first time, and I was in Dublin.
2) Good schools and safe.
3) Warm weather - similar to Dublin if possible.
4) Purchase a house, preferably newer housing, but not a must have.

Well, to narrow things down a bit and meeting criteria #1 & #2 - concentrate on Millbrae, Burlingame and Belmont. They have highly rated schools at all levels (elementary, middle & high school). Also, no "bad" areas" to those cities. Millbrae has a very strong asian culture, you may or may not like that. All three cities will have a short commute to SSF. As you know, the weather on the peninsula gets warmer as you head south, so Belmont will be warmer than Burlingame & Millbrae (but nowhere near as warm as Dublin). And you will have to check your budget to see if you can afford the homes.

Just noticed your post that the company has buses that go to the east bay, so that opens up more options (warmer weather).

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

The thing is your list is impossible, and I think you know it, as your title suggests.

So, you are now entertaining Walnut Creek as an option? What happened to the one hour plus commute you didn't want?

Basically your list says I want to live over an hour away from work, but I don't want an hour commute. What should I do?

Sheesh, just move back to Dublin.

[BadgerNCarolina]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

The thing is your list is impossible, and I think you know it, as your title suggests.

So, you are now entertaining Walnut Creek as an option? What happened to the one hour plus commute you didn't want?

Basically your list says I want to live over an hour away from work, but I don't want an hour commute. What should I do?

Sheesh, just move back to Dublin.

Thanks for the kind words - I will consider Dublin. You seem like a warm, patient, helping soul. Again - thanks.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by BadgerNCarolina

Okay - So I know there are 100 of these, but since every situation is different I thought I'd post our details and see if you wonderful people could help me figure out first IF, then where to move to.

I have a wife and daughter (entering middle school), and the potential for 2 job offers (one will pay 160-170k with an incredible company with great benefits, the other will pay 200k or so but much nowhere near as good a company). Here are the criteria:

1) Want to live close enough to South San Francisco so I don't have to drive an hour plus like I did when we lived here the first time, and I was in Dublin.
2) Good schools and safe.
3) Warm weather - similar to Dublin if possible.
4) Purchase a house, preferably newer housing, but not a must have.

My wife is a bit nervous about us moving out there and making it financially. So - I'd like to get opinions on whether people think we can make it work, and if so - where?

Oh - and she is considering working to supplement the income, but not sure if we want to do that immediately with the adjustment to a new school and area for our daughter.

HELP!

If you're okay with an hour commute via public transportation (BART!) then Walnut Creek, or even Pleasant Hill might be a good option for you. It is safe, very good schools, warm weather, not much different than Dublin, etc.

Newer housing---hmmm...not sure about that aspect, but houses from the 70's/80's/90's perhaps? (I haven't seen any Edwardians/ Victorians/Craftsman styles like you would find in Oakland/San Francisco/Berkeley. Not sure if they're building anything new in terms of housing estates now however, you'd generally have to get out to San Ramon/Dublin/Danville for much newer housing estates (and unfortunately, there are no HANDY BART stations from that area)

The only issue, again is your tolerance for am hour BART ride/commute...maybe longer if you need to get onto a bus to transfer to your work. It's doable---but may be hard depending on you/your wife's expectations. Two hours out of your day via public transportation---only you can answer that!

Of course, being closer to work is always better--but I can't say for sure you'd get the weather or the kind of vibe you're looking for in the South Bay. Houses are generally older. Schools, weather, purchasing,would be more expensive since that area is closer to the whole tech. industry and I think you get more for your money in the East Bay.... BUT, then you're saving time on the commute!

Unfortunately, in the Bay Area there's ALWAYS a compromise with these things unless of course you're a gazillionaire (which of course, most of us are not)!

[dburbs1975]

you can have some of these in Piedmont. I was considering two jobs, one in Oakland, and drove around exhaustively. Piedmont is beautiful and the schools are great. You just will not find affordable new housing there.

and I also really really loved the southeast quadrant of Berkeley, there were lots of families there and Ashby BART is close. The schools have many levels, and there are lots of sports and special kids after school programs.