Need some San Jose county experts!

[scarfase99]

So, i moved to San Jose from San Diego about 1.5/2 years ago, but basically have been stuck in Milpitas/Fremont area. Come the point where looking for a place to buy, but i'm having a tough time looking for a place that I'd fit in. Sure the places in East San Jose are great deals, but i've heard some bad things about the area.

I'm 26, white male...gonna be living with my gf. My main concern would be falling into a place like Milpitas...where no offense, but when there's like 90% asians, they're not exactly nice to non-asians. So i just want a place with a more diverse culture (that was the beauty of san diego).

So yeah....i've heard mixed reviews of Sunnyvale. Santa Clara is nice i know, but a little out of my price range. Dublin looks nice, but WAY too far for my commute. Been recently looking at Blossom Valley, which seems nice.

Any help would be great!!!!

 

[JohnAn2112]

I actually grew up in Blossom Valley/Almaden Valley and those areas are nice, but they're pricey too. Maybe look into Campbell or West San Jose. Santa Clara might not be too bad. What price range are you looking at? If you're looking for a condo, there have been a lot of apartment -> condo conversions in Santa Clara County so you might find something decent.

 

[scarfase99]

i'm kinda anti-condo unfortunately, so looking for either a townhouse or a single family. Price range is 450k max...and prices as you mention are rough :-/

I've been trying to find websites to help...i found Crimereports.com, but it seems like every place has something, but so far Blossom Valley doesn't seem too bad, and i found a few places that might work. Santa Clara i've yet to find anything acceptable in my range :-/

 

[JohnAn2112]

Well, not to burst your bubble, but $450k probably won't get you much. My wife and I paid $442k for our 2bd condo in Santa Clara last year. I don't think prices have come down that much in the last 9 months since we bought so a townhouse might be tough to find and a single family will be near impossible. Keep your head up though. It's a tough process especially in the Bay Area.

 

[scarfase99]

yeah, well, i quickly came to that realization about Santa Clara Which would be perfect location of course....so willing to commute a bit more, just want to make sure the location is good...what areas to avoid...etc

 

[JohnAn2112]

What is your current commute situation? You might want to look at north Fremon/Union City-ish areas too.

 

[scarfase99]

nah, i lived in fremont with my cousin when i first moved up here...just hated it all around. didn't like renting there, so i'd hate owning there

How's Campbell?

EDIT: Current commute is like 2 minutes, i work in Milpitas, and i live there as well. *UGH*

 

[JohnAn2112]

I like the Campbell/West San Jose/Saratoga area. If you get deeper into Saratoga, you'll be looking at mansions so you might want to stay out of there lol. That whole area is pretty nice and has easy access to shopping, freeways, etc. I'm on the border of Santa Clara and West San Jose/Campbell so my wife and I are in that area a lot actually. Downtown Campbell (really only a couple of blocks) has some nice shops and restaurants and downtown Saratoga is really nice too if you like a little bit more upscale restaurants.

 

[summit]

u want to live in san jose and not live with azns. wow. that's like ohh im moving to compton, but i prefer not to be around black people. 450,000 will just get you laughed at. you want a house at 450k? oakland?

 

[BoomerD]

Dude, you need to move to the Central Valley and join the solid stream of commuters heading into all parts of the Bay area. Probably 60% of the main breadwinners in my subdivision commute. I did it for about 10 years, with commutes ranging from Moss Landing, Hollister and Monterey to San Rafel, Stanford, and all parts of the South bay.

Nope, it ain't easy driving 75+ miles each way, but you'll get a ton more house for your $$$. Depending on where you work, there are some commuter options like the ACE train and assorted transports to the BART station in Dublin.

 

[JohnAn2112]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Dude, you need to move to the Central Valley and join the solid stream of commuters heading into all parts of the Bay area. Probably 60% of the main breadwinners in my subdivision commute. I did it for about 10 years, with commutes ranging from Moss Landing, Hollister and Monterey to San Rafel, Stanford, and all parts of the South bay.

Nope, it ain't easy driving 75+ miles each way, but you'll get a ton more house for your $$$. Depending on where you work, there are some commuter options like the ACE train and assorted transports to the BART station in Dublin.

:Q

OMG I would kill myself if I had that commute. For a while, I commuted from South San Jose to Redwood City (about 35 miles each way) and I thought that was bad. Of course, I commute about 3 miles each way now. No freeway (101 especially) FTW!

Leaving home at 5:30-6 to get to work at 8 and leaving work at 5 to get home around 7:30 isn't ideal for most people either. You're dedicating 14 hours in your day just to go to work for 8 hours.

 

[scarfase99]

lol, yeah, i'd kill myself with a commute that long My realtor tried to sell me on Dublin, which is like a 35 mile commute, and i was cringing. Doesn't help that i *HATE* driving.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: JohnAn2112

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Dude, you need to move to the Central Valley and join the solid stream of commuters heading into all parts of the Bay area. Probably 60% of the main breadwinners in my subdivision commute. I did it for about 10 years, with commutes ranging from Moss Landing, Hollister and Monterey to San Rafel, Stanford, and all parts of the South bay.

Nope, it ain't easy driving 75+ miles each way, but you'll get a ton more house for your $$$. Depending on where you work, there are some commuter options like the ACE train and assorted transports to the BART station in Dublin.

:Q

OMG I would kill myself if I had that commute. For a while, I commuted from South San Jose to Redwood City (about 35 miles each way) and I thought that was bad. Of course, I commute about 3 miles each way now. No freeway (101 especially) FTW!

Leaving home at 5:30-6 to get to work at 8 and leaving work at 5 to get home around 7:30 isn't ideal for most people either. You're dedicating 14 hours in your day just to go to work for 8 hours.

From here, an 8a.m. start means you're out of the house between 4:30 and 5...traffic sux, and it starts getting bad by Livermore and stays that way all the way into the south, east, north bay and peninsula...you gotta leave early enough to beat the heavy traffic, then go have coffee or breakfast when you get to your destination. Then, you might as well work an hour or 2 late, because the commute back is gonna suck even worse than the morning commute. I've had it take over 4 hours to drive 100 miles in the afternoons. BUT, I do have a nice 4 bd/2 bath house that I bought for $130K 9 years ago...(along with heavy fog in the winter time to make driving...interesting..., and 100+ degree days from mid-Mat through mid-October...

 

[LongCoolMother]

east san jose isn't all bad. only a portion of it-- the eastridge/mckee/story/alum rock/mt hamilton areas are the parts that are worse off. once you cross from alum rock into berryessa, you're in nice areas. but then again, that's nearing milpitas. Going the other direction, you end up in Evergreen and Silver Creek. Probably going to be too costly there. South San Jose isn't going to be any cheaper. Unless you go as far as Campbell, which wouldn't be too bad.

 

[Kaieye]

I wouldn't buy a house unless I was married(single and rich is an exception). And forget the commute to the suburbs especially with the price of gas going thru the roof.

My wife works in Marin county and we live near the Cliff House in San Francisco. I mentioned to her if we should buy a home in Marin so she wouldn't have to commute so far but she said that it was too "white" for her...

 

[Demon-Xanth]

San Jose isn't a county. Santa Clara, Alameda, and San Mateo are though.

http://www.californiacountymap...antaclara_county.shtml
http://www.californiacountymaps.com/

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

can 450 actually get you a single family home in the south bay? last time i looked, small condos were going for that much.

if you want to live where there are less asians and it isn't ghetto, the pennisula is a great place but i don't think its in your price range.

 

[trmiv]

$450,000 for a tiny condo is exactly why I left the SF Bay Area. I grew up in San Jose/Cupertino and Newark, CA, but had to leave because of the costs when it came time to buy a house. If you're dead set on buying in the area I'd try further north (Fremont, Union City, Newark, Hayward, etc), or further south (Gilroy, maybe the outskirts of Morgan Hill). Your commute will suck balls, but you'll get more for your money. But then gas prices will kill you too, so you're screwed either way. Living in the bay area isn't cheap, which is why I left.

 

[LordSnailz]

yeah 450k is really hard or nearly impossible for a single family home in the southbay. I actually like the west san jose area/santa clara area, but even in those areas, 450k is tough.

 

[senseamp]

450k? Maybe a doghouse
Rent for a couple years, maybe housing will collapse, but even then, you would probably be looking at 600K+, down from 800K+ now.

 

[Slew Foot]

Your best bet might be DUblin, theres a Bart station there to take you to the peninsula, and every other house is for sale, making prices fall pretty quick.

 

[qaa541]

There is no way you will get a house in a good location for $450k. You may be able to get a small single family house or townhome in East Palo Alto but then why would you want to live there?

And get used to having Asians around because the Bay Area is chock full of us (among everyone else). You can't escape hahaha!
As for your diversity comment, the Bay Area is one of the most diverse areas I have ever lived in (and I also hail from Southern California). According to wikipedia, Fremont is 50% asian, 30% white, 14% latino and 2% black - is this not diverse enough for you or do you just want to live in a white majority area? If you do, then you need to move into the West bay, but then out goes your dream of buying a house.

As others have said, it is Santa Clara county not San Jose county.

 

[shopbruin]

i grew up in the evergreen area of san jose, right at the base of the foothills. um good luck finding a 450k townhouse there.

i saw on craigslist a while ago a townhouse on yerba cliff for 450kish. not sure what the problem with the place is other than it's old. might be worth a look.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/rfs/612242583.html it is kinda small though - under 1000 sq ft.

but west san jose is good, going towards saratoga. cute, quiet community. pricier though.

 

[quikah]

450k is only going to get you a condo unless you go for some real dumps. I would wait a year anyway, see where the housing market goes.

Look at redfin.com or movoto.com

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

South SJ is your only option. Like if you go down 85 and u go past Blossom Hill, to like Cottle, and you go south a little more, you might find something. Otherwise, if you don't like East SJ which I don't either, you gotta pick the east bay i.e. Union City, Hayward, Fremont.

Sunnyvale is a lot better than all those areas though, so I would look there.

Originally posted by: JohnAn2112
What is your current commute situation? You might want to look at north Fremon/Union City-ish areas too.

If you work in Milpitas, coming from the south or west is no hassle.

237 is nothing, blah blah. Commutes in the south bay are a joke. The 87 is probably as bad as it gets, and unless you're coming from the East Bay, you should be fine.