how crazy is SFO real estate?

[The-Shoveler]

I was hearing that they were building new tract homes for around 500K to the north/east of San Jose area (not sure about what the schools would look like).

It’s kind of funny a lot google employees live in SF but have to hop on a bus for 90 Minutes to get to work at the google facility.

Yea I really don’t get it,

[spdrun]

spdrun, those large swaths of “vacant land” in the peninsula (and in ALL bay area counties) you’re seeing on your map-reading expeditions from your comfy perch in Manhattan, NYC are protected. By that I mean they are National or state preserves and/or parkland. As such, they will NEVER be built on so there goes your “gentrification theory.”

No need to be insulting. I know about the parkland, which is why I was speaking strictly to already-developed areas like EPA and parts of Oakland.

[spdrun]

It’s kind of funny a lot google employees live in SF but have to hop on a bus for 90 Minutes to get to work at the google facility.

Mountain View and surrounding area is seen as boring as compared to SF.

[Coronita]

[quote=The-Shoveler]I was hearing that they were building new tract homes for around 500K to the north/east of San Jose area (not sure about what the schools would look like).

It’s kind of funny a lot google employees live in SF but have to hop on a bus for 90 Minutes to get to work at the google facility.

Yea I really don’t get it,[/quote]

Sold out 🙂

[Happs]

Lots of office, retail, hotel and residential projects underway in the city of Santa Clara. Every little bit of new inventory helps if you’re looking to rent/buy.

http://santaclaraca.gov/index.aspx?page=2495

Anecdotally, a couple weeks ago, I spent some time reading hotel/motel review websites of budget to mid priced properties from San Jose up to Palo Alto along El Camino Real and the 101. The great majority of properties where rooms are $125/night or less get poor reviews. Common themes are lack of cleanliness, unsavory clientele, indifferent customer service by owner/managers, dated rooms, etc.. It seems like one needs to spend $200 a night to get a room in a newer-built or clean property with a caring owner/manager. These 40+ year old properties can’t be paying that much yearly property tax to justify around $100/night. Based on the reviews of some of these properties, it doesn’t seem like computer engineers are staying there and nor are regular tourists or people in town visiting family/friends. Maybe people who can’t afford a regular apartment or who don’t have good credit are staying in these motels. So the boom in housing prices is probably translating to higher motel rates too.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=The-Shoveler]I was hearing that they were building new tract homes for around 500K to the north/east of San Jose area (not sure about what the schools would look like).

It’s kind of funny a lot google employees live in SF but have to hop on a bus for 90 Minutes to get to work at the google facility.

Yea I really don’t get it,[/quote]

Any “new homes” for that price would likely be smallish townhomes or zero-lot-line PUDS, Shoveler. I don’t see them fitting into Milpitas due to lack of buildable land and zoning and architectural restrictions due to historical preservation ordinances in place. “Fremont” is the area NE of SJ where there may be buildable land left and its schools are top notch. This is coming from a family relative who retired from their position as a HS teacher in the Fremont Unified School District (located in Alameda County).

From Silicon Valley cities, Fremont is likely quickest-reached by the Dumbarton Bridge and that’s no picnic to navigate back and forth every day.

Regarding Google employees living in SF and taking their l-o-o-o-ong distance company shuttle to work, that is a “lifestyle choice” they are making. ALL of them can likely afford to live near work (in Mtn View and surrounding cities) but choose SF for the culture it offers.

Visiting SF (for me at least) is absolutely exhilarating. It’s a combination of the endless choices of things to do that it provides, with its scenic backdrops (water/bridges, etc) in all directions, the rugged coastline, the wind and brisk air, architecture, city lights and widely diverse people (both residents and visitors).

There’s no other place quite like it on earth.

[The-Shoveler]

I did a quick search there are actually quite a few new single family homes going up within 1 to 1.5 hours commute from San Jose for under 500K but not sure about the hood.

Hey if google employee’s ride a bus 90 minutes (just saying).

Yea it’s probably about commute time and schools plus further from the Ocean and SF.

Having been to SF quite a few times, I still don’t see the draw. I guess to each their own.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Happs]Lots of office, retail, hotel and residential projects underway in the city of Santa Clara. Every little bit of new inventory helps if you’re looking to rent/buy.

http://santaclaraca.gov/index.aspx?page=2495

Anecdotally, a couple weeks ago, I spent some time reading hotel/motel review websites of budget to mid priced properties from San Jose up to Palo Alto along El Camino Real and the 101. The great majority of properties where rooms are $125/night or less get poor reviews. Common themes are lack of cleanliness, unsavory clientele, indifferent customer service by owner/managers, dated rooms, etc.. It seems like one needs to spend $200 a night to get a room in a newer-built or clean property with a caring owner/manager. These 40+ year old properties can’t be paying that much yearly property tax to justify around $100/night. Based on the reviews of some of these properties, it doesn’t seem like computer engineers are staying there and nor are regular tourists or people in town visiting family/friends. Maybe people who can’t afford a regular apartment or who don’t have good credit are staying in these motels. So the boom in housing prices is probably translating to higher motel rates too.[/quote]Happs, from your link, it appears that Santa Clara may currently be undergoing “gentrification.” ALL its new projects underway (except “Midtown Village) ….

http://santaclaraca.gov/index.aspx?page=2495&recordid=39

…. are large commercial/industrial projects and large multifamily projects.

According to the photo in the above link, “Midtown Village” appears to be an “infill” project (as are likely most of the rest of the projects shown in your link) of 2-story homes 6 feet apart with a backyard rear fence not more than 8 feet from the house with another home backing into that tiny backyard (built on substandard lots). In addition, the “styrofoam-looking” columns on the front porch suggest they are built with the cheapest finishes throughout. I would classify these homes as “PUDs.”

A well-built 1950’s-era fixer house on a 7K lot just blocks away for $200K more would be a much better investment than buying into this project, IMO. Correct me if I’m wrong, but when I last checked (in the late nineties), this area of SC (Stevens Creek Park) was situated in the (excellent) Cupertino School District attendance area. Not sure if both sides of the fwy do today.

A homebuyer can’t expect new construction in a single family home in the heart of SV unless it is a spec home (replacing an existing building on one city lot). If a buyer wants a SFR with at least a 5000 ft lot in SV (std-size SFR lot in urban CA), there is a 99% chance that they’re going to have to buy an older home.

It’s funny you should mention some of the hotels in SC Co as being substandard. We had to visit relatives back in the 90’s in that area who had too many guests in the house at that time and ended up staying in a motor lodge right next to the RR tracks in SJ for a few days. It was very dark and dingy in our room and the train, blowing its whistle, came thru several times per night. It was the worst motor lodge I’ve ever stayed in (and I’ve stayed in a LOT). As I recall, we paid about $68 night there around 17-18 years ago! It was during Thanksgiving and we always booked our lodging in advance but we didn’t realize how full the host’s house (although ~3000 sf) would be with their last-minute guests. So at the last minute, this place was the only place left …

[an]

[quote=The-Shoveler]Having been to SF quite a few times, I still don’t see the draw. I guess to each their own.[/quote]I’ve been to SF many times as well. I don’t see the draw either. My feeling of SF is cramp, old, and dirty. I much rather have Chicago like downtown. Even San Diego is much nice IMHO.

[spdrun]

*shudder*

The few times I’ve been to downtown Chicago, I’ve found it to be bleak and depressing. Careful what you wish for!

I found San Francisco to be much prettier and more uplifting to walk around.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=The-Shoveler]I did a quick search there are actually quite a few new single family homes going up within 1 to 1.5 hours commute from San Jose for under 500K but not sure about the hood.

Hey if google employee’s ride a bus 90 minutes (just saying).

Yea it’s probably about commute time and schools plus further from the Ocean and SF.

Having been to SF quite a few times, I still don’t see the draw. I guess to each their own.[/quote]

“1 to 1.5(+?) hours commute time from San Jose” is probably Morgan Hill or even Gilroy:

http://www.morgan-hill.ca.gov/

http://www.cityofgilroy.org/cityofgilroy/

Shoveler, you’re forgetting that a SV worker/commuter has to navigate the fwy loops in/near SJ around to the Nimitz (nka I-880 spur) to Fremont and surrounds (if not using the toll bridge) or down thru Morgan Hill to Gilroy. That’s well over an hour commute barring any accidents, etc (30-45 mins during rush hr just to navigate thru SJ).

Proximity to the “ocean” in SV is likely not a criteria of SV homebuyers. Except for small off-the-beaten-path enclaves (ex Pacifica, Half Moon Bay) the “ocean” is bordered by mtns, incl state preserves and parkland. Thus, there isn’t much housing near the ocean there (and certainly not many listings situated close to the ocean at any given time).

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=AN][quote=The-Shoveler]Having been to SF quite a few times, I still don’t see the draw. I guess to each their own.[/quote]I’ve been to SF many times as well. I don’t see the draw either. My feeling of SF is cramp, old, and dirty. I much rather have Chicago like downtown. Even San Diego is much nice IMHO.[/quote]

Can I go back and be a SF hippie in 1967? Or better yet I want to be gay there in the 70s.

I’ll settle for being a straight suburbanites in 2014 I guess….shit…

[bearishgurl]

[quote=The-Shoveler]That is the biggest complaint I hear from bay area workers, retirees don’t move!!
You do not hear that as much in LA or SD but there is a lot of I am staying until they carry me out here as well.[/quote]

This is because the SF Bay area is relatively close to the rugged and spectacular CA north coast, the best wine regions in the country, Mt Shasta and Lake Tahoe (boating/skiing/hiking) . . . for starters. All of these areas are doable 3-7 hr (one-way) trips and certainly very doable long weekend trips.

And many (mostly peninsula but all over bay area) retirees have season tix to the 49ers (Candlestick Park), Stanford sporting events and the Mountain Winery (concerts, tasting, etc), for example.

http://www.mountainwinery.com/concerts

These types of spectacular venues (ambiance, etc) can’t be recreated in SoCal … or even in the inland bay area and Central CA. These other regions are not only lacking the topography, they’re lacking the towering redwoods among a cool Mediterranean climate creating intimate entertainment settings. In the case, of Stanford, the campus is situated on one of the most beautiful elevations in the state (if not the country). Its world-class olympic pool, stadium and grounds are absolutely pristine as are its observation platforms!

The bay view driving into SF (northbound) on the 101 with Candlestick Park/the Brisbane in the foreground is absolutely breathtaking to me, esp at sunset. It’s one of my all-time favorites and brings back a LOT of memories.

Los Angeles County doesn’t offer quite this level of open space until one gets nearly 50+ miles east of the ocean (bordering SB County) i.e. Walnut, Diamond Bar. Although the up close and personal views of the towering (and sometimes snowcapped) San Gabriels are beautiful, this area is nonetheless very hot (95+ deg) 8 months per year and plagued by over-trucked state highways in middling to poor condition which tend to be at a standstill most of the day on the east side (SB/Riv County lines).

Parts of inland Central CA and nearly all of So-Cal is essentially an irrigated desert. Although there are many beautiful areas in SoCal, the fact that is IS a desert can’t be fixed.

Aside from not wanting to leave family members (as joec mentioned) the above list are just more reasons why most of the longtime residents of the bay area are choosing to retire in place, imho.

I disagree with joec about one thing, however. I believe most of the current retirees in the most desirable, close-in bay area communities have paid-off homes. Thus, they could care less what the local RE market is currently doing. That’s for their heirs to figure out …. someday 🙂

[Coronita]

[quote=The-Shoveler]I did a quick search there are actually quite a few new single family homes going up within 1 to 1.5 hours commute from San Jose for under 500K but not sure about the hood.

Hey if google employee’s ride a bus 90 minutes (just saying).

Yea it’s probably about commute time and schools plus further from the Ocean and SF.

Having been to SF quite a few times, I still don’t see the draw. I guess to each their own.[/quote]

The school district is the suck

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]

spdrun, those large swaths of “vacant land” in the peninsula (and in ALL bay area counties) you’re seeing on your map-reading expeditions from your comfy perch in Manhattan, NYC are protected. By that I mean they are National or state preserves and/or parkland. As such, they will NEVER be built on so there goes your “gentrification theory.”

No need to be insulting. I know about the parkland, which is why I was speaking strictly to already-developed areas like EPA and parts of Oakland.[/quote]

Well, I stand corrected, spdrun. Apparently Santa Clara is currently undergoing massive “gentrification.” Acc to the link Happs provided, several multifamily and commercial projects are currently underway there.

I wasn’t trying to “insult” you. I was going to ask you to obtain a “relief map” of the SF Peninsula to study, but sadly, I don’t think there are any more map stores in the entire country left. A relief map of this area (with overlays) would be extremely interesting, valuable and helpful to have, IMO. It is so hard to explain how it is impossible or impractical to get from “here to there” on the SF peninsula. It is a very unique stretch of land … and save for just a very few micro-areas along the bayfront, it is entirely natural and not dredged, filled in or otherwise man-made. As such, leaders of SM and SC counties have historically and repeatedly chosen to keep as much of this area as possible ecologically preserved … as it should be.

[Author]

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