Where to buy SFH with $1.2M budget

[Anonymous]

Need move in ready as we will not have cash to renovate. Work is traveling around Bay Area so pretty flexible. We are looking at Santa Cruz and Oakland but keep losing bids. Want a walkable family friendly neighborhood, though with some bars and cafes and skewing a bit younger culturally. Don’t need good schools, going private.

[Anonymous]

If walkable is more important than space, look at Alameda or San Francisco proper. Both will present challenges to a car commute.

If you want space, you can still have nice sidewalks but you will have to give up being walkable to anything like a downtown area, or else live on the outskirts of the Bay Area and drive a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If walkable is more important than space, look at Alameda or San Francisco proper. Both will present challenges to a car commute.

If you want space, you can still have nice sidewalks but you will have to give up being walkable to anything like a downtown area, or else live on the outskirts of the Bay Area and drive a lot.

We like Alameda but $1.2M has been outbid on multiple houses.

We don’t need a huge house but we need a yard so a SFH is key. Would that be possible in SF? Where else would we be looking for just sidewalks? And what outskirts have downtowns — we aren’t commuting so maybe good option.

[Anonymous]

What are the list prices where you are getting outbid? Under $1m?

I guess I don't know enough about your needs. You say work is driving around the Bay so I I assume you don't want to live in Davis or Petaluma. How far is too far and how small is too small? Do you need a big yard or just a place for the dog to pee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the list prices where you are getting outbid? Under $1m?

I guess I don't know enough about your needs. You say work is driving around the Bay so I I assume you don't want to live in Davis or Petaluma. How far is too far and how small is too small? Do you need a big yard or just a place for the dog to pee?

San Ramon is too far, and too exurban for us. We just need a yard for a dog to pee and kid to do like pretend play or have a soccer goal. 3 bedroom house, 1300 sq ft.

List prices are all about $1M where we are looking; nothing even available for less.

[Anonymous]

This is the same PP again. You can keep trying to bid and you may get lucky -- here's one: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Berkeley/1020-Channing-Way-94710/home/669522 --
but you really don't have the budget for everything you want. Detached with three bedrooms and a yard in the Bay Area is spendy (I grew up in a 2 BD / 2 BA, myself) and you are competing with people who work in person in Silicon Valley but are willing to look further afield than you are (Pleasanton, Livermore, Walnut Creek, etc).

First suggestion is to realize you will not walk to restaurants and bars (most people don't, anyway) and just pick a nice suburban bedroom community.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/South-San-Francisco/617-Walnut-Ave-94080/home/1961937
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Bruno/729-San-Felipe-Ave-94066/home/1998340
https://www.redfin.com/CA/East-Palo-Alto/2150-Pulgas-Ave-94303/home/865925
https://www.redfin.com/CA/El-Sobrante/5727-Sherwood-Forest-Dr-94803/home/1880838
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Pinole/2820-Doidge-Ave-94564/home/813268

Second suggestion is to consider townhouses with a yard, like this:
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Sausalito/6-Terrace-Dr-94965/home/1374702
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Santa-Clara/5084-Plaza-Corona-95054/home/1253135

Third suggestion is to drop down to 2 bedrooms, maybe in a situation where you could add on later.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Berkeley/2641-Mathews-St-94702/home/1963976
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Walnut-Creek/410-Bridge-Rd-94595/home/1364619
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Brisbane/300-San-Bruno-Ave-94005/home/1705150
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Redwood-City/466-Fifth-Ave-94063/home/1963855

[Anonymous]

PP makes decent suggestions. With your budget, there are not many options. Add at least $100-200k to take overbidding/bidding wars into account.

[Anonymous]

Do you need a good school district?

If not, Richmond Annex (cute, safeish, walkable) or East Richmond Heights (safer, better views, not walkable). I’m afraid you’ve probably been priced out of El Cerrito (same school district as Richmond) but if you’re okay with a fixer upper near San Pablo Ave, that could work too.

Most of San Leandro is pretty charmless but the Bay O Vista neighborhood is ok, and the Hayward hills are on the upswing,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If walkable is more important than space, look at Alameda or San Francisco proper. Both will present challenges to a car commute.

If you want space, you can still have nice sidewalks but you will have to give up being walkable to anything like a downtown area, or else live on the outskirts of the Bay Area and drive a lot.

We like Alameda but $1.2M has been outbid on multiple houses.

We don’t need a huge house but we need a yard so a SFH is key. Would that be possible in SF? Where else would we be looking for just sidewalks? And what outskirts have downtowns — we aren’t commuting so maybe good option.

Wait, you aren’t commuting?

Benicia is lovely. Pay CLOSE attention to the old toxic dump maps and the refinery exhaust map but there are really nice parts that don’t have sky high cancer rates, and the downtown is adorable.

Parts of Martinez are completely sheltered from the refinery exhaust paths (do research) and the downtown is also cute. The schools are surprisingly not bad.

Hercules and Pinole are closer in, making commutes to Oakland etc feasible. But again, pay attention to where the refinery exhaust blows when there’s a flare.

Petaluma is adorable. Way too far to commute to the inner Bay though.

[Anonymous]

San Rafael!

[Anonymous]

I'm a fan of Albany, but that's because it's close-in, walkable, good public transportation, and good public schools (which sound as though they're not important to you).

This is within your budget, but I imagine there will be a bidding war:

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Albany/1001-Peralta-Ave-94706/home/1912062

[Anonymous]

Monterey. You can get a huge home with a backyard in an urban area for $1.2. AND charter schools are amazing so you don't even have to pay for private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a fan of Albany, but that's because it's close-in, walkable, good public transportation, and good public schools (which sound as though they're not important to you).

This is within your budget, but I imagine there will be a bidding war:

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Albany/1001-Peralta-Ave-94706/home/1912062

Incredible bidding war ?

This home was listed at $1,150,000 on November 10, 2021 and closed 40 days later (December 21, 2021) for $2,000,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If walkable is more important than space, look at Alameda or San Francisco proper. Both will present challenges to a car commute.

If you want space, you can still have nice sidewalks but you will have to give up being walkable to anything like a downtown area, or else live on the outskirts of the Bay Area and drive a lot.

We like Alameda but $1.2M has been outbid on multiple houses.

We don’t need a huge house but we need a yard so a SFH is key. Would that be possible in SF? Where else would we be looking for just sidewalks? And what outskirts have downtowns — we aren’t commuting so maybe good option.

If you want to be in Sf, you’d be south closer to city college, Ingleside, Crocker and Daly City. Much quicker highway access from there, you can get a sfh w yard. Dogs can run all around Fort Funston or Stern Grove. If you’re going private there are well regarded parochials that way that are 15k ish bargains compared to the independent schools more north. Older houses and smallish but that’s a lot of SF.