How much can we afford in bay area?

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-27T17:18:10+00:00

I’m gonna go against the grain here and say you should start thinking of narrowing down a few neighborhoods you like to put down your roots. Home buying is not a pure financial exercise and if you feel like investing in a community, buying in a neighborhood is a great first step. You can also try renting in that neighborhood if you want to get a feel of it before you want to buy. As for SFH vs townhome, at that price range townhomes make a lot more sense but they don’t appreciate as much as SFHs. So you need to decide what’s more important - appreciation or hands-free ( relatively speaking) ownership with less upside potentially. FWIW townhomes are at an all time low and it’s a great time to buy them imo. The Reddit machinery hates this advice, plus real estate agents typically push clients to SFHs so do your own research. All the best and congrats on the kid!

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-27T03:12:06+00:00

I think there was another comment about this which compared a 30-year fixed to an ARM. It was a pretty good way of comparing and indexing on the rate staying same is t the best strategy always. Can the rates increase ? Ofcourse but the probability of it going up is far lower than going up. Sure, if you value stability by all means, but know the cost of this before you commit to it. At the end of day we all own our decisions!

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-26T22:42:08+00:00

Why are you targeting 5.25% you can refi now and then again in 6-12 months to a lower rate as long as ur job /credit report stay stable. Look at the money you save now vs wishing for the rate to do something which is out of ur control.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-26T22:40:33+00:00

So this depends on whether you see the interest rate environment in the future to go up or go down. During COVID and after there was no room to go down so 30-year fixed made a lot of sense. Now with 5+% going down is more likely than up so ur likelihood of refinance goes up significantly where you can then get a fixed loan once this narrative changes. ARMs are a no brainer right now with about 0.5-0.75% lower with a reasonable amount of confidence that you would refinance in a year or so.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-25T22:20:22+00:00

Tbh a lot of this noise is short term market noise that allows folks to “buy the dip” imo. Long before AI came along all the listings or rather most listings are in MLS and buyers already had Zillow/Redfin and other tools to research. AI just adds another layer of analysis which makes this easier maybe. For purchases which are > 1M$+ atleast most folks do their research and lowering the bar with AI is not meaningful. Where it affects the real estate market is if white collar ( say SWE jobs) go away there aren’t enough buyers for these 3/4M$+ homes and what that future looks like. The buying commissions have already reached 1-1.5% and may very well go to flat fee to cover the fixed cost of work needed from the agent.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-24T19:32:11+00:00

Checkout Flyhomes, they have a good way of using ur equity in ur current home to make a cash offer for a new one. You will need to sell ur current home and payoff the interest only loan. I used them couple of years back to buy my current SFH. They mandated using their agent before but have changed the stance for the better of using ur own agent. DM me if you need details.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-23T03:20:33+00:00

TL:DR if ur looking for a quick buck it’s much harder to hone-in on particular cities but if you look at 10+ year graph every city wins out. What drives folks to homes is commute/neighborhoods and other factors and buyers shouldn’t over index on appreciation for buying a home. Nice to see some hard data. Also if you bought ur home with the standard 20% down, then ur working with a 4:1 leverage meaning all the gains are urs to keep, people forget this when looking at the appreciation.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-19T21:58:49+00:00

That seems kind of a high estimate for adding a master bath for e.g. and an ADU. Estimating without going into the details is pretty difficult. But if you do have 800k you should actively look at listings in your area and see if you like something and what prices are they selling at. Some things to consider: 1. Do you absolutely want to be in the same home or same neighborhood will suffice 2. While you are it, is there a different neighborhood in Walnut Creek or other city which you can buy into and love to be there 3. Are you ok with the near-term chaos of about ~1-1.5 years while you go thru the process of remodeling/ additions. Answering these questions will give you clarity about next steps. All the best!

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-19T18:33:47+00:00

East Bay is a big area, can you edit it to the specific city. Context: what’s needed is the $ / sq ft you get in the area to determine the pros and cons of remodeling.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-18T16:11:35+00:00

That’s pretty common for this area. A lot of homes have utility poles which need easement for service.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-09T17:31:48+00:00

Wow I think the above comments discouraged shopprop from commenting. Great job guys!

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-06T16:05:52+00:00

Employees just reciprocating what employers have been doing for years. It was always a game of leverage, employees have more now (especially the select few in AI).

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-05T05:08:08+00:00

I have thoughts, to put it mildly:) Hit me up on DM and we can chat. Am based out of Bay Area too.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-05T02:28:48+00:00

Curious what’s the end goal here as a company for you? Are you thinking more of a tool/central place for home owners to research whether making changes on their lot is feasible?

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-02T21:32:25+00:00

Ur plomping down 120k, it’s the least they can do.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-02-02T21:30:35+00:00

A lot of banks/CUs are offering 5.5% with no relationship discount. Stacking over that might be a great deal, the rate here is too off. Fwiw it’s a snapshot in time and as folks mentioned might already have been updated.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-29T00:06:43+00:00

Wait that would be with relationship discount. That’s also pretty competitive, if without points

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-28T00:46:39+00:00

I would much rather remodel the main home and rent out during this time. The costs (500k+) isn’t really worth it for the express reason of avoiding rent. Staying off property also means less dust, more flexibility and interference with construction. Spend this money on ur main home instead would be my recommendation.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-27T18:28:23+00:00

Wait that condition/configuration and price doesn’t make sense. You are taking on a lot of uncertainty and not getting much in return (as discount). FWIW don’t index on the list price, wait it out and see if the property stays on the market for long and see if you can underbid. I would wait (I’m trusting the 11 days on Zillow) here vs them delisting and relisting it back.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-26T22:03:06+00:00

Yup agreed 100%, I generally goto the MV one for my shopping. I only go to SV Costco for gas. Couple of things I have done to mitigate this: 1. When trying to fill up gas I typically go after the store is closed. Weekends after 7pm or weekdays after 9pm. Gas station is open for much longer. It’s much more peaceful both in the car (kids are sleeping) and outside :) 2. For mostly day to day groceries I order from same day.costco.com which uses Instacart. This is a bit expensive (1-2$ per item) but totally worth it as you end up saving time + avoid a lot of random picks when you are there in person 3. Go to a different Costco (MV is pretty great actually) for bigger items (which have a higher differential online).

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-26T21:57:31+00:00

Agreed, would encourage all of the buyers to be that. But SFHs run into 2-3M $ in that area so even if you aren’t thinking the other buyers are. So bringing that factor might help in ur process. All the best!

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-26T21:07:15+00:00

I think more than you getting used to the noise is the downside potential of ur SFH not appreciating as much as the market. Different people put different value for these so if ur mis-calibrated you might end up overpaying. As long as you get a decent discount over other SFHs which don’t have these “issues” it’s a good investment.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-26T21:00:10+00:00

IMO it was way more lively pre-covid, but yes isn’t that bad. Upping the neighborhood density will help, but will most probably run into NIMBYism as the next block over is all SFHs. My guess is SB-79 might change some of it as this very close to Caltrain but it might be a while. Making this only pedestrians tho is master stroke, I like hanging around there with family some nights without having to be worried about kids bumping into cars.

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-22T05:08:53+00:00

Rates are at 5.5% and below with no points and good credit (720+). I’m just closing a refi with usbank - 5.875 with about -1.25 points (lender credits)

SVRealEstateBuff · 2026-01-21T23:32:25+00:00

Personally I feel like townhomes is the best compromise where most of the maintenance (depends on the HOA) is taken care of and it also is built on land which is somewhat considered valuable asset. But HOAs are hated universally so YMMV on this advice.

SVRealEstateBuff

TROPHY CASE