Moving to the Bay Area?

[Slew Foot]

Not sure if I'm a hoarder but we've been packing our house and I'm amazed at the junk which has accumulated and not been looked at in years.

I've been told if you work for a city or other local government never live there... so that's keeping me from looking hard at Fremont since my wife more than likely has the job. Maybe next door?

union city/newark is a bit on the ghetto side. Milpitas has some nice areas but Im not sure about Bart access. Pleasanton is nice but the commute will make you poke your eyes out. Fremont is honestly your best bet, we lived there for a year. Some nice areas (Warm Springs, Mission Hills), BART access, decent parks (central park is really nice), nice variety of Indian/asian restaurants. Lots of Indian tech people around so hope that doesnt bug you.

 

[Drako]

My dad is senile as fuck and is a hoarder. That's part of the reason we are moving; so that the house is farther away from his hoarding section. I've warned my mother that giving him more space is a bad idea because he will fill it with more shit, but that's her problem and not mine.

Wow, I just looked at that on google maps. Holy shit your dad has a lot of vehicles. What's with the bus?

 

[Net]

I don't have a motorcycle but have been thinking of getting one (I am not a new rider). Can you ride year round? Might be a good supplement to our Volt.

My friend use to motorcyle ride here too. She wouldn't give it up for anything. Then she got in an accident and says she always feels spacy now. Ask yourself if its worth it.

A few months after I moved here I was driving to the SFO airport. There was a ton of traffic, more then usual. When passing the scene it was a motorcyle rider that was laid out flat on the ground. Wasn't moving, hopefully he didn't die.

 

[MrCassdin]

Coming out of left field: Santa Cruz? Thoughts? Opinions? Yeah it's far away, got that part. How is the drive into Sunnyvale'ish area?

 

[Drako]

Coming out of left field: Santa Cruz? Thoughts? Opinions? Yeah it's far away, got that part. How is the drive into Sunnyvale'ish area?

LOL, you would be hating life after a week or so driving over the hill (SR 17).

I commuted from San Jose to Scotts Valley twice a week for 6 months and hated it, and that was reverse commute.

 

[Rinaun]

Wow, I just looked at that on google maps. Holy shit your dad has a lot of vehicles. What's with the bus?

Well when someone offers to sell a bus to you for $100, congratulations, you have a bus now!

LOL, you would be hating life after a week or so driving over the hill (SR 17).

I commuted from San Jose to Scotts Valley twice a week for 6 months and hated it, and that was reverse commute.

Agreed. Try if you want to get cheaper up north IE San Mateo/etc. Santa Cruz is not acceptable to commute to. Just remember that what you are buying won't really drop in value because of where you are located. I don't see the silicon valley becoming like detroit any time soon, if anything it's become the digital breadbasket of the nation compared to the valley being the produce breadbasket of the entire west coast in the early 1900's.

 

[Rinaun]

My friend use to motorcyle ride here too. She wouldn't give it up for anything. Then she got in an accident and says she always feels spacy now. Ask yourself if its worth it.

A few months after I moved here I was driving to the SFO airport. There was a ton of traffic, more then usual. When passing the scene it was a motorcyle rider that was laid out flat on the ground. Wasn't moving, hopefully he didn't die.

Yeah, this isn't montana or oklahoma. Owning a bike is fine but commuting daily is just asking to get killed. I'd stick to bike clubs/close local trips if I did biking; my family does the same thing when they bike.

 

[Drako]

A fun thing to do is watch Sigalert during commute times.

http://www.sigalert.com/

 

[MrCassdin]

Alright, done quite a bit of planning. My wife is actually out there this week (and next) scouting around and doing in person interviews. My house is on the market, I think I mentioned that.

You guys are going to think I'm nuts (maybe you already do). We're thinking of buying a class A motorhome in the 30-40' range and staying in it for 3-6 months. I can't wait for the comments on this idea.

 

[Drako]

Alright, done quite a bit of planning. My wife is actually out there this week (and next) scouting around and doing in person interviews. My house is on the market, I think I mentioned that.

You guys are going to think I'm nuts (maybe you already do). We're thinking of buying a class A motorhome in the 30-40' range and staying in it for 3-6 months. I can't wait for the comments on this idea.

You can park it in Rinaun's back yard, next to the bus.

 

[zinfamous]

Alright, done quite a bit of planning. My wife is actually out there this week (and next) scouting around and doing in person interviews. My house is on the market, I think I mentioned that.

You guys are going to think I'm nuts (maybe you already do). We're thinking of buying a class A motorhome in the 30-40' range and staying in it for 3-6 months. I can't wait for the comments on this idea.

why would that be crazy? other than buying it with the plan of selling it after 3-6 months....yeah, maybe that part is crazy.

 

[zoiks]

boy los gatos is pretty affordable for the area

ps: i grew up next door in saratoga. i now own a 2bdrm concrete box (aka condo) in sf that cost almost as much as you're asking for your house

The 2bdroom condo across from us went for 1.4m here in Palo Alto. Crazy prices here.
1.3m for a house in los gatos sounds good to me.

 

[zoiks]

A fun thing to do is watch Sigalert during commute times.

http://www.sigalert.com/

Or you could use google maps

 

[Ns1]

You guys are going to think I'm nuts (maybe you already do). We're thinking of buying a class A motorhome in the 30-40' range and staying in it for 3-6 months. I can't wait for the comments on this idea.

Finding a place to park it and live is surprisingly difficult.

 

[Drako]

Or you could use google maps

Sigalert is better, plus evil empire avoided. :biggrin:

 

[trmiv]

I envy you. Well maybe not the living in the motorhome part, but the moving to the bay area part!

I was born and raised in the Bay Area (San Jose, Fremont, Newark), but moved to NC 7 years ago. Not the worst decision I've made, but definitely not the best. I really miss the bay area, but I doubt my wife and I could ever afford to move back.

Good luck!

 

[thomsbrain]

I grew up here and my wife and I have a very similar situation to you, financially, school-wise, etc.

We eventually bought a place in the Santa Cruz Mountains rather than live in the ghetto in San Jose, which is what we were able to afford to buy with similar income. You need $175K or more for a 20% down payment if you want to be in a safe neighborhood in the urban/suburban areas, and with your income, you'd really need more like $300-$400K down to get a manageable mortgage payment. And the problem with Silicon Valley is that no matter where you are, you are always two blocks from the nearest crappy neighborhood. Everything is jumbled up and goes more by blocks than by areas of the cities. You can spend a million dollars on a house and still not be able to park your car outside without worrying about it. And traffic is just shit, period.

When we get school squared away, we are seriously considering moving to other areas, which is sad because I do love aspects of living here and most cheaper areas are cow towns with very narrow world-views that I don't want my kid growing up around.

 

[Drako]

And the problem with Silicon Valley is that no matter where you are, you are always two blocks from the nearest crappy neighborhood. Everything is jumbled up and goes more by blocks than by areas of the cities. You can spend a million dollars on a house and still not be able to park your car outside without worrying about it. And traffic is just shit, period.

LOL about the crappy neighborhoods every two blocks. I've lived in San Jose for 25 years, and I've never worried about parking my cars outside.

 

[RichieZ]

The 2bdroom condo across from us went for 1.4m here in Palo Alto. Crazy prices here.
1.3m for a house in los gatos sounds good to me.

yea except the traffic on 85N is awful, i work on univ ave and my parents live in saratoga. if i stay at their house it takes me just as long as driving or taking the caltrain from SF

Palo Alto is expensive b/c of all the tech money and great freeway access, but then I'm part of the problem

 

[MrCassdin]

Been a few days, how about an update? My wife spent the last week out there and went everywhere. I've been out there for two-three week stints once a year or so for work the last several years so I am not totally unfamiliar. Wife did get a job (woo) so it's "official" now.

Up until the point you start "doing" things it's all just educational, but accepting a job offer and having a start date makes things real pretty fast.

When will the the actual move be? Well, there will probably be two moves, a little one and a big one. Still planning this. I promise pictures once we're out there so you guys know I'm not trolling you.

We still have to sell or rent our current house, I feel like I could rent it almost immediately as rental homes where I live (especially larger homes like mine) go really fast, usually in a week or two. So if I rent the place, the mortgage is covered and I won't be in a rush to sell. The other option is sell outright as quickly as I can, as stated in the OP I estimate walking away with about 100K on the sale. If I waiting 6 months I might be able to do 125K but I don't really want to wait six months.

 

[jpiniero]

Renting sounds like a super bad idea being so far away from it.