san ramon to palo alto commute (San Jose, Mountain View: insurance, broker, buying a house)

[stallapr]

Hi

I currently stay in mountain view. My wife works in palo alto and I work in san jose. The place we stay does not have good local schools so my two kids ( 6 and 3) go to private school. I am looking into buying a house in san ramon. I like the schools and think I can get a good house while not needing to pay for the private school. I am wondering if anybody has a similar requirement and is currently staying in san ramon and doing the commute. I am conflicted and feel while I get good schools and a good house in san ramon long term, I am losing time with my kids.

I would really appreciate if any body in similar situation and can give their advice in terms of commute time, trade offs they made, do they feel it is worth it etc.

regds

sam

[almost heaven]

If you leave before 7 am your commutes will be anywhere from 35 to 60 min depending on the work locations you are driving to. I have worked in San Jose and I grew up in Palo Alto so I know what you are asking. I myself have 5 and 8 year old kids and yes the schools are the best arround. Watch out for some of the newer developments in San Ramon, they have higher tax rates.

[Palindromed]

Public schools can rarely replace the quality of a great private school. Is the cost of the house AND private school having an effect on your finances? Your job locations aren't going anywhere. The only thing you can do is relocate to a location close to work, find a great public school, or better yet, why not just find a better private school?

How can you like the schools in San Ramon if you haven't even put your kids in there to measure/monitor it?

Why not try to find a home in the Saratoga/Cupertino area where the schools are just as good as San Ramon?

Have you sat down to consider the cost of moving? By moving to San Ramon, you give up 6% of your home on say $1,000,000 ($60,000) in broker commission, cost in moving expense ($4000). Then you have capital gains as well? That is a lot of money lost for educational purposes. Then consider the wear and tear on your car, increased cost in gas, increased insurance premiums.

Have you really sat down and thought this out or are just wanting a move? And what is it about the Mountain View school system that is not good? What exactly are you expecting? Are you 100% sure you are going to get that in San Ramon as well? Thats a big risk you are taking.

The commute from San Ramon will be tough day in and day out. I seriously doubt you can do that commute in under 1 hour. The drive alone from San Jose to Palo alto is 30 minutes minimum. How I know? I used to drive that everyday. And if you done any drive from Pleasonton to San Jose you know how that is. Thats at least another 30 minutes minimum. I'd say you are looking more like one hour minimum on good conditions.

And where did all that time for the spouse and kids go? With both of you physically away from the kids at a longer distance, it also poses problems because one of you will have to drive the long distance on emergencies with the kids. Is that really a good thing to be that far away from the kids? I don't think so.

I wouldn't do it frankly. I would solve the problem by looking for a better, affordable private school!