Looking for affordable cities to live in around San Francisco

Question

My husband might be getting transferred to San Francisco. Can you give me some areas outside of the city that we could look into?

We'd want to buy a house - not rent.

Thanks!

Answer 1

With 8 surrounding counties, the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most diverse areas of the country.  Some counties are suffering a severe market down turn, several counties are not and those continue to out perform almost every other county in CA.  However, all local housing markets are price sensitive and that will probably continue for the foreseeable future.  The two most important factors to consider are where you will be working and what you think is affordable.  Commute time and distance, climate preferences and school quality are considerations as well.  With over 155 micro-climates and some of the most expensive real estate in America, your have far too many choices.  You'll need to focus on those areas that provide you with the life style and amenities you are looking for. An experienced buyer's agent can help you work through the range of considerations you need to explore to reach an informed decision.  The simply answer to your question is there are many more affordable areas outside of SF and many much more expensive areas as well.  However, a simple answer leaves much to be discussed.

Best advice: Take your time, ask lots of questions, absorb yourself in one of the most unique areas of the country, and you'll find the right house for you.

Raymond Stoklosa

The RayChel Realty Group

Coaching Clients since 1987

Answer 2

You will be amazed at the high prices.  Amazed. /

Answer 3

A couple of my favorite, more reasonable suburbs are El Cerrito and San Leandro.  Both have BART stations for commuting into the city.  (For information about our regional commuter system, see http://www.bart.gov.)  Both are in the East Bay and have much better weather than San Francisco.

Almost nothing in Marin County is affordable, and the commuting is very difficult.

"The Peninsula," that is, everything between San Francisco and San Jose, tends to be very expensive.  But check out Daly City, Colma, and Redwood City.  They ain't pretty, but they're pretty reasonable!