Need advice - moving to S.F.

Hello Everyone!
I just received a job offer covering the San Francisco region. I will work out of my house but need quick access to the airport to leave at a moments notice. I will also be driving into the city. My Fiancee and I currently live in Southern Orange County (6 miles from the ocean) and will need to move up North in late Feb. early Mar.

I would be looking for a place that has around $500k condos...if there is such a place Location and garage are the most important. Less than 2k sq ft is fine. I prefer to live in a city that actually has parking lots to park in when shopping (i.e. not like Los Angeles or West LA) I plan on flying up soon and looking around. The locations that I was considering were Fremont and Union City, since they are close to the BART that goes right to the airports and the city. I read on a previous post (I research this section 14 pages back) that Fremont was not that nice. I would also prefer to be by a good 308 Ferrari mechanic.

Thank you in advance.
Craig

 

look in or around the tri-valley (Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon). Brian Crall is also located locally in San Ramon.

If you fly domestic, I highly recommend flying out of Oakland instead. A lot more convenient and is where most domestic business travellers fly out of.

 

Thanks SANguru. I looked more into the cities and Union City is out - too high crime. I might check out San Ramon, although I think it's too warm in the summer for me. I also might check out Mountain View (low crime rate) but it may be too far South of San Francisco. I will need to actually look around. The places I that may look good on paper/internet may not be in person.

I saw on another thread that Brian's shop no longer works on 308's.

 

I second flying out of Oakland, especially if you are flying regionally. Bart is not a good option to either airport, if you value time. In some cases, you can even get there faster using a super shuttle. Another option is San Jose International.


$500K wont get you a whole lot in terms of location. For example, there are some relatively new construction condos that went up in the Bayview district in San Francisco a few years back. I seem to recall that they ran about $500K. Sandwiched in between the projects and the warehouses, these 1300 sq ft beauties have sweeping views of the elevated freeway. The constant drone of cars passing by at high speed efficiently drowns out any gunshots which might otherwise rouse you from a peaceful slumber. Some units are so close to the freeway, you would swear that you could almost touch it.

 

There are some nice pockets in Fremont, Hayward, San Leandro, Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito. If you want to be close to OAK, Alameda is perfect. You just have to find a neighborhood that suits you. Heck, there are some nice areas of Richmond. If you don't have kids in school you have more options. Going over the hill to San Ramon, Pleasanton, Dublin, Walnut Creek, Danville, Concord will feel more like the OC to you, if that is what you want. Oakland is the best airport if you fly Southwest. Otherwise, SFO is not bad at all. BART runs to both, but at Oakland, you have to get off at the Coliseum and take a shuttle bus that you could wait for up to 1/2 hour. You might look at San Bruno or Pacifica on the Peninsula (if you like fog). San Mateo and Burlingame are also an option. Prices are depressed, so you could probably even find something in the City if you wanted a real change of pace. I moved up from So Cal 19 years ago and settled in Marin. Takes me one hour to get to either SFO or OAK. Marin to SF is the fastest/easiest commute there is.

 

I would stretch and try to locate a cool loft (with garage spaces) in San Francisco or Oakland. You can find a pocket with less crime, if you do not have kids and schools do not matter for now.
If you are going to miss the ocean and work from home Half Moon Bay is not bad and a good value. You can find a small house there for under $700K. If you do not need to use Hwy92 for commuting, you do have good access to SF, and it is somewhere between agricultural and yuppiefied. Anything is better than the gangs and lowered Civic hoodlums in Union City.
I happen to think the Peninsula is the best bet, but you can get priced out very quickly, unless you want to live in San Bruno, Milbrae (747s overhead), or the ethnically homogeneous Eastern parts of San Mateo and Redwood City. Lots of condos in Belmont, where I live. As long as you do not smoke...it is another option...500K will get you 1200sf, next to El Camino...

You will not look back. I have not found a better place to live yet, and I have been around.

 

Agree^^^ Peninsula if where I want to stay (I've lived here all my life). Belmont would be tops for me; great weather most of the time but away from the airport where you don't need additional insulation to keep noise down! View is fantastic at Crestview Street.

You could also find something in San Carlos next to Belmont. In either case, you're about 10 minutes from SFO, and 20 minutes from the SF city limits.
Burlingame would be OK too; it's closer to SFO but not certain if you'll hear the planes since the city run's parallel to the final approach.

Another option if you don't mind fog, could be Pacifica. You have to go up and over the hill and head north a bit to get to SFO but your 308 will definetly be happy as you commute around. I'd estimate it would take 20 minutes to get to SFO. Sort of depends how far south or close to the ocean you want to be.

good luck!

 

For 500k you can get into Marin. I know that the drive could take a bit longer, but once you drive a little aournd there, you'll see that it's probably worth it. 500k gets you a decent condo there, if you shop carefully.

Art

 

And Marin Airporter is more efficient than BART.

And this quote is gonna come back to haunt when you are freezing your ass of on the Fourth of July!

 

Thanks for ALL of your replies! xs10shl's response about what $500k will get made me LOL And I thought So. OC was expensive!

In response to some of the replies: We do not have kids, nor do we plan on having any. We don't smoke either.

As for the freezing on the 4th of July...I grew up in Ohio were anything over 50 degrees was balmy

I am using all of the responses and plotting them on a map so that I can visit the locations when I get there.

The company will also be assigning a "Relocation Specialist" to me and I will be speaking with members from my team for living locations too.

 

San Francisco is the best airport, if you fly a great deal. Like me..... 250K miles a year!!!!

San Jose sucks big time (many reasons to avoid it, even though it is closer to my home). Oakland, no reason to try it because SF works so well.

I don't know about current prices but look hard at Willow Glen/Campbell/Cambrian Park for "easy" accessibility to all three airports... and affordability

 

A cool web site to check things out is redfin.com - you can look at houses on a map and navigate around. Marin is killer btw. -Alex

 

Just to further add to the discussion - It's actually pretty convenient to Oakland assuming you don't have a flight during rush hour. Also, I work days in San Carlos, and there is a really great starter home community within walking distance of Cal Train and downtown, and 10 min from SFO. Prices for 1200 sq ft homes on tiny lots are about $750K, but at least you own the dirt. I also prefer San Carlos downtown to Belmont, but downtown Burlingame is the best of the three mentioned.

As far as flying out of SFO goes - internationally, its the best way to go. Fying regionally, it is not as ideal as Oakland, based on my experience and flying patterns. Oakland was not ready for prime time a few years ago, but they've just finished all the terminal upgrades and roadwork, and it's much better than it used to be. Also, since SFO is a United hub, I am doing my part to help United go out of business, and anything I can do to help people not fly United is a good thing.

 

THANKS for the web site!!!

 

MREUS, in the event that you are not happy with your relo service send me a PM.
Thanks,

 

Well I am up in NorCal now in temporary housing in Walnut Creek. My Fiancee and I drove around the East Bay, down to Sillicon Valley, and up the 82 to Millbrae. So far we like Dublin the best...probably because it is like OC. I also liked Mountain View...but drove by it too quick to tell. This weekend we may check out the Northern side of the East Bay, Pacifica, Colma, Marin, and more the the Sillicon Valley area. I am trying to stay close to public transportation (BART, CALTRAIN, AMTRAK, etc.) because I will sometimes be going into the office (MKT ST) and clients in downtown SF.

I went to the Oakland Airport for the first time today and was pleasantly surprised. Hourly parking was easy, it wasn't crazy busy, and it wasn't sketchy.

As compared to OC, I like the cooler weather, the freeways are not parking lots, and there is actually land that isn't built on...but I still miss Newport Beach.

 

I live in Mtn. View for a few months when I first moved to Nor. Cal. I'd stay away. That damn Cal Train going by every 15 minutes shook my apartment, loud as hell even if your a fair distance away. Not to mention even Googlers don't want to live there (Palo Alto or Atherton for them).

Walnut Creek is nice, a fair BART ride away though. Dublin, I hear, is up and coming, but no first hand experience. Good luck.

 

Thanks. I know what you mean. I hear the BART every 15 minutes from my temporary housing.

I went to Mountain View today and it was okay. The shock that I am dealing with (in most of the NorCal places that I have seen) is there is a nice area right next to a sketchy area next to a nice area that is next to a sketchy area. I am going to rent something and see what happens. The F-car will stay in SoCal for now.

I got to experience SoCal like traffic today after 4. So, I'm changing my comment above to say that the traffic in NorCal appears to be better on the weekends and non-rush hour times

 

Man....... what you can do with 500 000 dollars back about 10 years ago. these days 500 000 is just to get you a decent home.

 

500k isnt even a decent townhouse here, maybe a decent condo!

 

yes..palo alto is nice. and ferrari friendly as well....

 

check out san mateo and burlingame. flying out of SFO is worlds better tha nthe awful east side and OAK. i would avoid SJC and OAK like the plague. same with anything on the east side.

PA is $ and extrmeely overrated. nothing there (no good food, for example), totally remote from everything, not easily freeway accessible, etc.

 

Ya, I'm no fan of P.A. and you still got the damn Cal Train running through it. If you have a family I guess it would be nice. Not really much to do and don't get why every tiny ass house is $1mm. It's decently close to the 101 and worlds better than Mtn. View, which is getting pretty dumpy.

Can you get a nice house for $500k in East Palo Alto??? ;-).

 

Lol Why yes! and EPA is quite Ferrari friendly as well!

 

I drove through both when I went up the 82...did I miss something? Should I have turned down certain roads?

In OC the nicer places are on the water, out here it is mostly opposite (sketchy areas - East Palo Alto or Industrialized). Where do you drive your Ferrari around here (w/o stop/go traffic)??? Do most people go North?

Thanks for all of you replies