Nice & affordable areas near San Jose, CA?

[aristocatz]

Helping my brother with house hunting (house or townhome). He is looking for some affordable & nice/safe neighborhoods near San Jose, CA.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Sacha_L]

What does affordable mean to him? For just one person or a family?

 

[aristocatz]

What does affordable mean to him? For just one person or a family?

Sorry, I should have provided more detailed info It's for him & his wife. They likely won't have children, but I"m not 100% sure. He is looking for a safe and nice area (either family friendly or an area with a nice downtown) for under 650K.

 

[EMode]

Is he willing to commute? We were planning on looking in Livermore but ended up moving out of the are altogether. That was over 10 years ago I'm not sure how much the housing market has changed since then.

 

[aristocatz]

Is he willing to commute? We were planning on looking in Livermore but ended up moving out of the are altogether. That was over 10 years ago I'm not sure how much the housing market has changed since then.

Thank you-I will pass that on to him. What is the town like? Is it a family friendly suburb, or a trendy type area, etc...?

 

[Luv Bunnies]

San Jose itself is big - it's the 10th largest city in the country. That said, we have lots of smaller cities that surround us. You can sometimes drive just a few miles and you'll never know that you've left San Jose. There are lots of options for housing, although 650K will probably get him a smaller, older home or a townhome.

San Jose itself is divided into a number of areas. The east side tends not to be the safest. The west side is very nice and borders Cupertino. The Almaden area is to the south and has a mix of newer and older homes. Downtown is OK, but I wouldn't want to live there. San Jose State University is downtown and much of the surrounding area tends to be campus housing. There are some newer condo developments downtown, but the houses are on the older, smaller side. The downtown area pushes out to the north of the city where it's mostly industrial. Although, there are a number of new housing developments in that area, plus new schools and shopping areas.

If he's looking to be near San Jose but a little north, he might consider Mountain View, Sunnyvale, or Santa Clara. Campbell has it's own little downtown area with some nice homes. Los Gatos and Saratoga are nearby but very pricey. South of San Jose are Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Many people live in that direction and commute in for jobs.

Keep in mind that this is one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. It has a lot of advantages, but we pay for them. For example, we get a number of real estate flyers for our area. The houses area here range from 3 to 5 bedrooms - anywhere from 1600 to over 2000 square feet. The least expensive place I've seen lately is around 850K, and they usually have multiple offers. Your brother might want to search for real estate online to get a better idea of what's available in his price range. Good luck!

 

[aristocatz]

San Jose itself is big - it's the 10th largest city in the country. That said, we have lots of smaller cities that surround us. You can sometimes drive just a few miles and you'll never know that you've left San Jose. There are lots of options for housing, although 650K will probably get him a smaller, older home or a townhome.

San Jose itself is divided into a number of areas. The east side tends not to be the safest. The west side is very nice and borders Cupertino. The Almaden area is to the south and has a mix of newer and older homes. Downtown is OK, but I wouldn't want to live there. San Jose State University is downtown and much of the surrounding area tends to be campus housing. There are some newer condo developments downtown, but the houses are on the older, smaller side. The downtown area pushes out to the north of the city where it's mostly industrial. Although, there are a number of new housing developments in that area, plus new schools and shopping areas.

If he's looking to be near San Jose but a little north, he might consider Mountain View, Sunnyvale, or Santa Clara. Campbell has it's own little downtown area with some nice homes. Los Gatos and Saratoga are nearby but very pricey. South of San Jose are Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Many people live in that direction and commute in for jobs.

Keep in mind that this is one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. It has a lot of advantages, but we pay for them. For example, we get a number of real estate flyers for our area. The houses area here range from 3 to 5 bedrooms - anywhere from 1600 to over 2000 square feet. The least expensive place I've seen lately is around 850K, and they usually have multiple offers. Your brother might want to search for real estate online to get a better idea of what's available in his price range. Good luck!

Thank you so much for this info-very helpful!!

The prices out there just blow me away! I live on the opposite side of the country in a rural area where I don't think I've ever even seen a house in my area for over 650K....and that will get you a mansion or farm with endless acres lol!

Anyways, I am passing all of the info you gave me on to him. He has lived in CA for over 10 years, but mostly in LA & San Francisco area.

He was looking into an area called Willow Glen, but so far he says it is out of his price range.

He just mentioned to me an area called Communications Hill & looking into some townhomes there-have you heard of it/know anything about the area?

 

[Sacha_L]

San Jose itself is big - it's the 10th largest city in the country. That said, we have lots of smaller cities that surround us. You can sometimes drive just a few miles and you'll never know that you've left San Jose. There are lots of options for housing, although 650K will probably get him a smaller, older home or a townhome.

San Jose itself is divided into a number of areas. The east side tends not to be the safest. The west side is very nice and borders Cupertino. The Almaden area is to the south and has a mix of newer and older homes. Downtown is OK, but I wouldn't want to live there. San Jose State University is downtown and much of the surrounding area tends to be campus housing. There are some newer condo developments downtown, but the houses are on the older, smaller side. The downtown area pushes out to the north of the city where it's mostly industrial. Although, there are a number of new housing developments in that area, plus new schools and shopping areas.

If he's looking to be near San Jose but a little north, he might consider Mountain View, Sunnyvale, or Santa Clara. Campbell has it's own little downtown area with some nice homes. Los Gatos and Saratoga are nearby but very pricey. South of San Jose are Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Many people live in that direction and commute in for jobs.

Keep in mind that this is one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. It has a lot of advantages, but we pay for them. For example, we get a number of real estate flyers for our area. The houses area here range from 3 to 5 bedrooms - anywhere from 1600 to over 2000 square feet. The least expensive place I've seen lately is around 850K, and they usually have multiple offers. Your brother might want to search for real estate online to get a better idea of what's available in his price range. Good luck!

This is great advice

 

[mamacatnv]

Thank you so much for this info-very helpful!!

The prices out there just blow me away! I live on the opposite side of the country in a rural area where I don't think I've ever even seen a house in my area for over 650K....and that will get you a mansion or farm with endless acres lol!

Anyways, I am passing all of the info you gave me on to him. He has lived in CA for over 10 years, but mostly in LA & San Francisco area.

He was looking into an area called Willow Glen, but so far he says it is out of his price range.

He just mentioned to me an area called Communications Hill & looking into some townhomes there-have you heard of it/know anything about the area?

Willow Glen was always one of those nice areas with beautiful older well established homes and neighborhoods.

My Bro lives in NE San Jose, we grew up in East San Jose. Bro has a 2 bdrm 2 bath 1100sq ft upstairs condo that is approx. 30 years old. He paid $450K 8 years ago, then the market there sank just like everywhere else but San Jose has rebounded. We were discussing this just the other day, his condo is now valued in the $600k's and his neighborhood is questionable. Its not bad but its not great, they have a lot of issues with vehicle and garage theft.

Silicon Valley is spendy to say the least

 

[Julia M]

Willow Glen is pricey...I can't imagine finding anything there under 650K. Santa Clara is also pricey now. There are still a couple of areas in West San Jose and Cambrian that you can probably get a townhome for around 600K.

Where will he be working? That would help in making recommendations.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Thank you so much for this info-very helpful!!

The prices out there just blow me away! I live on the opposite side of the country in a rural area where I don't think I've ever even seen a house in my area for over 650K....and that will get you a mansion or farm with endless acres lol!

Anyways, I am passing all of the info you gave me on to him. He has lived in CA for over 10 years, but mostly in LA & San Francisco area.

He was looking into an area called Willow Glen, but so far he says it is out of his price range.

He just mentioned to me an area called Communications Hill & looking into some townhomes there-have you heard of it/know anything about the area?[/QUOTE]

My DH grew up in Willow Glen. It's a nice, older area with smaller houses. A lot of people have rebuilt into what are termed "monster homes." Basically you can be driving along and see all these cute, one-story, one-car garage houses and suddenly you'll come across this towering 2-story house that covers its entire lot. That's a monster home! They look completely out of place. But, more and more of them are popping up and they will eventually become the norm in that area. We sold DH's mom's house in 1996 after she passed away. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath on a large lot. We got $400 for it. The new owners flipped it into a monster home and sold it for $1.2 million!

Communications Hill is on the other side of San Jose from me. It kind of between Almaden and Downtown. My son actually attends a vocational school in that area. He takes a bus to and from his high school, but I have been out there a few times lately to pick him up. Capitol Expressway runs through the area which is our major auto row. Most people refer to that area as "Capitol Auto Row" because everyone knows where that is. I don't know much about the housing in that area since I've mostly been out there for the school or to buy a car!

I would say that each area of San Jose has "good" and "bad" neighborhoods. I would pretty much stay away from Downtown and the east side. Otherwise, your brother will want to drive around and look at available homes and their surrounding areas.