Thanks david g. I figured with a minimal ~2% appreciation which would put us back at the historical mean for price/rent ratios in ~7 years, I'd have the equivalent of a 7% annualized tax-free return, and pay the equivalent of $1950/month in rent. Both pretty much on the long-term average.

Good to see the area breakdown (Thanks David). I've stared looking more at SL recently also. I began with Emeryville/Berkeley as I work near the Oakland/Emeryville border, and specifically wanted to cut down my commute from Fremont given what it might be 10 years down the road. I just can't get past the shear volume of incidents popping up after I punch in house addresses and see what the crime stat maps for Berkeley/Oakland have to show for themselves.

I definitely will not go further south than Fremont and SL is looking like a good alternative if I want to get bit more to the north.

Congrats, David!

We know you do your homework and it sounds like scored a nice deal there. Enjoy!

Red:

That's part of the "beauty" of SL--the commute to the City is better than many parts of Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda--and BART time is the same as going in from downtown Berkeley. Additionally, as mentioned by mrbrogue, if you happen to commute to the Peninsula, it's less painful than more northern East Bay.

Given how often I and my peers seem to end up switching jobs, I like the idea of having a "hedge"--right now I work mostly in SF, but I've done work in Redwood City and would not be surprised if future work takes me to San Mateo or other locations on the Peninsula and so SL makes a lot of sense for me.

Mrbogue: Good point on commute to the job-wealthy hoods.
Red: not to mention the cost of gas if you're driving.
David: Congratulations on your purchase and thank you for the great info -- see my (your?) latest post.

Hi David,

As long as you stay in the place for 5 years I don't think it really matters. I have alot of friends who live in/recently moved to SL and they're very happy. I think the pro that should be heavily emphasized is the relatively short commute to job-wealthy Pennisula and South Bay, something that the northern eastbay doesn't have.

You should figure out your distance/value... if this is 15 miles further out than your current home, thats worth something to you.
For examples sake, if you figure you will spend an extra 40 minutes commuting per day, (30 miles at 45mph avg), then thats about 160 hours per year. Value your time at say, $30 hour, and thats $4800 a year; if that were payments on a house instead, then you could have bought maybe $80000 more house. Your time, or quality of life, may be worth far more to you.
I figured out what the commute cost me, and I took a job for less money near where I really wanted to live. (Santa Cruz)
Best of luck to you.

Heh. thanks Mr. brogue. Did I mention this same house was listed last year at 609K? Whoops.

Hope it doesn't take another tumble like that going forward.

David

congrats David!

PS. if you have questions or want to buzz me about SL 'hoods, drop me a line

I'm in contract on a cosmetic fixer house that's 1700+ sq ft for $435K, with closing costs covered by seller, who's also clearing the pest report ($25,000 in total credits+repair work). After it's all said and updated (putting in new kitchen & floors), I'll be spending about $270/sq ft.

It's also in SL's best elementary school district, and 3 blocks away from a couple cafe's, hardware store, a couple restaurants and the ice cream parlor.

As for crime, I think SL has had 1 murder in the past 2 years. Muggings & burglaries are also much less than Berkeley. SL cops actually respond to citizens' calls and complaints. Heck, even the mayor does (as opposed to Dellums' sleepwalking through his term).

Bay-O-Vista you get views, but limited "walkability". Estudillo Estates you get nicer housing stock, the lowest crime and better school, but it's much pricier. Broadmoor you can get a better school (depending on which side of Bancroft you're on), decent housing stock, much cheaper, and just as walkable as Estudillo Estates (but a bit more crime as it's proximal to Oakland).

Assumption Parish is a bit less walkable, but flat, still pretty low crime (esp. if you're on the side closer to Estudillo) but the housing stock is 90%+ 1950 ranchers, which is great if you like that style (I don't).

Cons: The shopping is not as good as Berkeley, Grand Lake or Rockridge certainly. However, there are a few decent shops, there's a farmers' market downtown on wed. evenings now, and one on the weekend at Bayfair. There's also Bayfair for your mall needs (it's tiresome trying to buy simple underwear etc in Berkeley).

Pros: Easy access to Alameda, Oakland and Berkeley for your Trader Joe's or other desires, or if you need to go to Chez Panisse or whatever. Easy commute to SF--BART's just 25 minutes to the Embarcadero from SL, also have AC transbay express bus to SF. A tougher, but possible car commute to the Peninsula or South Bay; ideal for the two commute family (one to SF, one to SJ/Peninsula). I also think it's generally "nicer" (looking, set-up, shopping, crime etc) than Hayward/Fremont.

And of course, the much cheaper housing. Berkeley will always have people willing to pay to be in Berkeley, but I really don't understand those willing to pay up for Oakland for higher crime, higher property taxes (btw, SL is 1.25%, Oakland is 1.46% for a typical house), generally bad schools, and many neighborhoods are actually less convenient for commuters (say up the winding roads in Montclair).

Yeah, I'm boosting on SL right now, but seriously, those were all the thoughts going through my head when I started to take SL seriously (Before I was the standard BOakland/Alameda snob).