Can commute to San Jose.

You can live in Monterey for cheap. We had a 750k townhome in DC and were able to buy a nice home in Monterey. In some places, they are even cheaper. You

What are good neighborhoods for families in Davis? I love the look of the Davis Co-Op, seems like a cool town

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Danville and Walnut Creek are likely to be tough commutes, though, depending on where your job is. And with the rise in WFH/flex arrangements, even further out places are increasing in price. I live in a closer in east bay city and know more than one person that commuted from sacramento...

It's just the housing, so you can do the math yourself. People who bought even 5 years ago are paying lower mortgages and lower property taxes. Not sure how DC area works, but CA Prop 13 pegs your property taxes at the purchase price, plus some small inflation each year. Newcomers are paying $$$ for the housing and $$$ for taxes. Don't forget to account for any differences in state taxes.

The good news is you can calculate all of this. Aside from housing, costs are comparable.

Walnut Creek and Danville are among the most expensive places to live on the other side of the pass.

Because of schools? Isn't San Ramon an even more expensive version of Danville? How about (west) oakland or Berkeley or Alamada or ?

What are affordable places within commute distance of SV?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: “wants Danville on an Ashburn budget” is like “champagne tastes on a beer budget”

But aren’t they local equivalents? Or is Danville more like Great Falls/Potomac and Sacramento is the Asburn equivalent?

No, it's not like that because there isn't a single job center. You can't define a circle around a given point and decide that everything outside that circle is exurbs -- it's more like every town is a Tysons, and there are at least two DC-equivalents within 30 miles of every Tysons. Even though Google has somewhat skewed the dynamic by drawing large numbers of commuters to SV, the majority of residential towns are also small job centers. Most people I know work(ed) within 10 miles of their house. That's good for commutes but also keeps prices high.

The places that feel like exurbs of the Bay are the equivalent of a West Virginia commute to DC -- think Fairfield or Tracy. But not Sacramento: you can certainly find people who commute from Sacramento to SF, but the majority of Sacramento residents work in and around Sacramento, which is its own thriving job center.

Speaking of Sacramento -- I do like the area. I attended UC Davis and used to have family in Sac. I've heard the schools aren't good, but you could live in Davis (which has good schools and kind of a Reston vibe) and have an easy commute to Sac. The government emphasis in Sacramento will probably feel more similar to DC, too. It's hot though.

FWIW, and not knowing any of the reasons why you need to move to the Bay, you might think about whether someplace like Sacramento would be "close enough." Especially if you could get a job there, and avoid commuting to the Bay, Sacramento is a really livable town.

I grew up on the Peninsula, and never spent much time in Sacramento growing up. But, I had friends move there later, and wound up traveling there a bunch for work, and I really love it.

Anonymous wrote: “wants Danville on an Ashburn budget” is like “champagne tastes on a beer budget”

But aren’t they local equivalents? Or is Danville more like Great Falls/Potomac and Sacramento is the Asburn equivalent?

“wants Danville on an Ashburn budget” is like “champagne tastes on a beer budget”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Danville and Walnut Creek are likely to be tough commutes, though, depending on where your job is. And with the rise in WFH/flex arrangements, even further out places are increasing in price. I live in a closer in east bay city and know more than one person that commuted from sacramento...

It's just the housing, so you can do the math yourself. People who bought even 5 years ago are paying lower mortgages and lower property taxes. Not sure how DC area works, but CA Prop 13 pegs your property taxes at the purchase price, plus some small inflation each year. Newcomers are paying $$$ for the housing and $$$ for taxes. Don't forget to account for any differences in state taxes.

The good news is you can calculate all of this. Aside from housing, costs are comparable.

Walnut Creek and Danville are among the most expensive places to live on the other side of the pass.

But that’s like Howard county, it’s more expensive than neighboring PG but cheaper than DC and Moco

Anonymous wrote:Danville and Walnut Creek are likely to be tough commutes, though, depending on where your job is. And with the rise in WFH/flex arrangements, even further out places are increasing in price. I live in a closer in east bay city and know more than one person that commuted from sacramento...

It's just the housing, so you can do the math yourself. People who bought even 5 years ago are paying lower mortgages and lower property taxes. Not sure how DC area works, but CA Prop 13 pegs your property taxes at the purchase price, plus some small inflation each year. Newcomers are paying $$$ for the housing and $$$ for taxes. Don't forget to account for any differences in state taxes.

The good news is you can calculate all of this. Aside from housing, costs are comparable.

Walnut Creek and Danville are among the most expensive places to live on the other side of the pass.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now you have a house in (im guessing) somewhere like ashburn, a stay at home spouse, and good public schools, all for your 150K salary which comes with decent hours is my guess.

This is pretty much impossible unless you make around 400k in the bay area.

Yup, run the numbers and things are nuts in the Bay Area - and remember you also need to account for taxes (property/income/sales). Take your house price and at least triple it (for the same commute times WITH good schools/paying for private - which is much harder to get in the bay). Now some things are the same/cheaper (look at groceries). But when all is said and done, a family that spends 115K after tax in DC will need something like 200K in the bay. But the way that progressive taxation works, you'll need 150K in say VA, but 300K+ in the south bay. (now these are rough back of the envelope calcs, but you get the idea).

I'm ex-bay myself. The DC area is dirt cheap. Hell, people in DC actually even can use neighborhood publics school and live in 1.25M AU park homes a couple blocks from the metro.

This. I am ex-Peninsula (Burlingame, to be exact) and things are a lot cheaper here. OP, either you need a massive raise or your spouse needs to go back to work full time in order to make this work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably closer to 400k.

DMV is THAT cheap compared to Bay Area?

Yes.

Surprising, my brother make $250k an seems to be able to afford a $1.3M house fine, which can get you a nice place in Walnut Creek for example

what is his mortgage? That's pretty important.

$1.3 mil with a $600K mortgage is one thing; $1.3m house with a $1mil mortgage is entirely different.

When we used to live there, and our HHI was about $200K at one point, and our PITI was about $7000 (mortgage was around $1mil I think), and we were just breaking even. This was when I was a sahp. I eventually went back to work.

In DC, our PITI was about $2100, at one point HHI was $140K, and we were just about breaking even.

He only has 10% down, so I don’t know his PITI, and his wife SAH. He expects his salary to grow quickly (sales at a startup)

Danville and Walnut Creek are likely to be tough commutes, though, depending on where your job is. And with the rise in WFH/flex arrangements, even further out places are increasing in price. I live in a closer in east bay city and know more than one person that commuted from sacramento...

It's just the housing, so you can do the math yourself. People who bought even 5 years ago are paying lower mortgages and lower property taxes. Not sure how DC area works, but CA Prop 13 pegs your property taxes at the purchase price, plus some small inflation each year. Newcomers are paying $$$ for the housing and $$$ for taxes. Don't forget to account for any differences in state taxes.

The good news is you can calculate all of this. Aside from housing, costs are comparable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably closer to 400k.

DMV is THAT cheap compared to Bay Area?

Yes.

Surprising, my brother make $250k an seems to be able to afford a $1.3M house fine, which can get you a nice place in Walnut Creek for example

what is his mortgage? That's pretty important.

$1.3 mil with a $600K mortgage is one thing; $1.3m house with a $1mil mortgage is entirely different.

When we used to live there, and our HHI was about $200K at one point, and our PITI was about $7000 (mortgage was around $1mil I think), and we were just breaking even. This was when I was a sahp. I eventually went back to work.

In DC, our PITI was about $2100, at one point HHI was $140K, and we were just about breaking even.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is, there aren’t really exurbs there like in DC. The “exurbs” are high priced SV areas.

Bay Area resident here, and this isn't true. The Exurbs are probably more expensive that the DC area, but they exist and are much cheaper than the major cities or anywhere that touches the Bay.

OP, I think your calculation is correct...but you need to figure out where your job would be located and what that would mean commute-wise, since that will limit your options a lot (unless you want to spend 4 hours/day in your car). Also, "good schools" aren't really a thing in California. There are pressure cookers in rich areas, and then there is mediocre with some decent charters.

You’re quoting me and that’s part of what I mean. You can’t just drive out an hour to a great neighborhood public like you can in DC.