Photo of the Alameda shore line by pfyeh
Brian and I are in the preliminary (read: window shopping) stages of home hunting since our lease here in Concord will be up by the time he comes home from his Alaska patrol. The photo above is from the island city that he's stationed at, Alameda. Two years ago I found myself apartment hunting there to no avail - we simply could not get what we wanted for the amount we were willing to pay.
I've had my heart set on staying inland because my job and hometown are there, but it's time that Brian live near the ocean again. He will be working in the enforcement division of District 11, which is located on Coast Guard Island. If I am accepted at the school I've applied to, I will be attending classes at night in Hayward while working in Walnut Creek during the day. It's not an ideal commuting situation, but it never is in the Bay Area.
View Larger Map
Here's a key to some of the points:
Female symbols: The places I work: Oakland Trib and CC Times.
Ship symbol: Where Brian works: CG Island
Blue symbols: Place we are considering living: Dublin and Alameda
Red symbols: Places we've lived: Oakland, Concord and Fairfield
Green symbol: Where I might attend grad school.
The map is interactive so you can click on the markers for more information, like how long Brian has/will be stationed in Alameda and when we lived in each home. I'd like to maintain the map as we grow up and move, so we can look back on it some day and sigh about how much money we blew on rent while living in the Bay Area.
Speaking of rent, I should mention that if we do decide to move to Alameda, we will be spending upwards of $2,000 each month for rent. Granted we will live literally ON the beach, across from a dog park, and a short walk from Trader Joe's, but it is still more money than I make in a paycheck. Brian is promoting this summer and receiving a significant amount of back pay (which is a long and arduous story, albeit with a good ending) but I still don't feel completely comfortable spending the amount of a house mortgage - on an apartment.
The place we're going to check out this week is called South Shore Beach & Tennis Club, located directly across the street from the beach and 10 minutes from Brian's work. During my last house hunt in Alameda I saw the place and immediately laughed at the ridiculousness of the rental price, but two years later and with two new dogs, I am forced to remember that pet-friendly rentals are few and far between.
We're definitely keeping our options open for apartments and homes outside of Alameda, so if any of you Bay Area natives have secrets or rental tips you want to share, I'd love to hear them!
6 comments:
Welcome to the Land of Mortgages, eek. Good luck finding a place for the growing family of furballs.
Oh God, Robby and I plan on buying our first home this summer and I can't even imagine paying $2,000 for a condo... I'm sure the karma gods have plans for you and that's why you have to stay in the Bay Area. after tons of searching for a home, the only advice I can give you is a website. frontdoor.com. It's sponsored by HGTV and I've been all over the internet and this website gave me the best search results. Good luck!
How exciting!
That photo sure does look inviting. Ok, I think I want to move into the South Shore place. It upstages my current residence by a landslide. You think my family would mind if moved there without them?
eww..buying in the bay area..it can be done. do it sooner rather than later before prices stabalize and u will be SOL if you wait. Good news is once you do buy...your value will move fast since it is the bay.
im a loan officer. call me if you want help k?
love you guys!
www.greathomes.org
zillow.com
There is a foreclosure website too ..when i remember the url I'll send it to you.
if you and brian don't move to dublin with us, i'll be extremely disappointed ... but i also understand wanting to live by the water. we looked in alameda, too. it's just so much more pricey on the west side of the hill!
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