LifePlaza

omg don't remind me of that crap Its bad enough I'm moving out here.

yamo

Castro in Mt View != Castro in SF.............................

yamo

anywhere around where you will work is nice. I believe that area is also where google at *poke*poke*

Going from that area from mt. View)
north: los altos, palo alto, menlo park, atherton (btw, it gets more and more expensive)
south: sunnyvale, santa clara, [cupertino, campbell, san jose]

Traffic on 101-237 is hell as well as 85-101. If you worry about commuting traffic, try picking a place which you can take surface streets if your budget allows it.

MVWRX

iTrader: (1)

MV is expensive because it's bad ***

Sharky

North side of Central Expressway is MUCH cheaper than the south side of it.... if you get down near Cuesta houses are going for near 900K.....

international B

iTrader: (5)

uh oh... time for the drama to move to nor cal!!!

i would say that mv, sunnyvale, and cupertino are cool places to live. Lots of good eats and quiet type downtown are all there, and you dont have to take 35 freeways to get there. Good luck on the under 700k tho, people are getting raped down there.

x002x

iTrader: (3)

i was wondering when you were going to chime in.

just hella stick w/ san jose!! or stick w/ mt.view hehe

shim022

iTrader: (2)

wow i just saw this. you're really moving up here?!?!?!

they're building new townhomes next to my condo complex. low to high $500k for 3br, 2.5ba, w/ 2-car (although tandem) garage. a bit far from mtn view. :X my friend bought a place in cupertino last year for about 600k. a small townhouse/duplex. lemme know if you need help looking!

you'll be working in a nice area. not like my work neighborhood.

and good luck!

stevenkhau

iTrader: (11)

rent, rent, rent! financially, it does not make sense to buy when the annual return on the S&P 500 is in double digits. If you think houses are going to gain even 10% like they did in the past 4 years, you're gonna be in for a huge shock. The bubble hasn't popped yet.

Look...at the current mortgage rates (7.0%) for a $560K mortgage (assuming you have the other 20% to make $700K), your monthly payment is almost $4000/month. And that doesn't included property tax and insurance, which normally is around $700/month. For less than 1/2 that amount, you can rent an equally nice townhouse in a BETTER area. Yes, there are tax deductions associated with the mortgage, but it's always foolish to give someone $1, get a quarter back, and say you've come out ahead.

If you absolutely have to buy, look for the hidden gems in the area. Milpitas, North Valley San Jose, Niles area in Fremont, and the 94086 area in Sunnyvale are some lower priced areas with very quiet neighborhoods. They get a bad rap, maybe because of a higher minority population/density and people paint it out to be like Compton...but if you've ever driven through the neighborhoods, you'll probably like it quite a bit.

Ipecac

iTrader: (11)

In addition to the previous post.

http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Yes, you should definitely stay away!

LifePlaza

believe me I am debating

cost of homes up there is ridiculous.

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Yes, it's crazy. We looked for a while but got to the point where anywhere we wanted to live was just too insanely expensive. When a house that seems like it should be worth maybe $150k is locked in a bidding war starting at $850k, it just doesn't seem worth it even if one can afford it.

DetailAddict

iTrader: (52)

+100000000000000000001!

STiYLIN

iTrader: (8)

North Richmond seems to be having some cheaper home values lately. It's just a short commute into the City and diversity is what that city is about! Check into it.