Origins

I intend to use this blog to chronicle my attempts to purchase a dwelling in the San Francisco Bay Area. The blog will serve several purposes. First, much like my primary blog, it is a journal of sorts, something that I use today to capture my thoughts and experiences in the expectation that I will re-read it years from now to get a fuzzy nostalgic feeling. Second, since this process will likely be long and confusing, I hope that by setting out my thoughts "in stone," as it were, I will be able to ground myself in the process. Merely by articulating what I want, I hope that I will be forced to fully understand my desires. And, months from now, I hope to be able to re-visit posts to remind myself of my priorities, and see if they have changed (unlikely) or if my judgement has grown clouded (much more likely).

For the most part, I imagine this blog as being an irregularly updated progress reports, perhaps with one or two posts a month, describing the home search. When things are slow, posts will be less frequent; when it picks up, I'll write more often or longer. In addition, I may write about more general thoughts that aren't tied to specific experiences but that seem relevant to my overall goals.

So, first things first: where am I right now?

I think I've more or less finished the self-education phase of my search. I have a very rough plan of action in mind that, if everything goes smoothly, should see me in a new home within a year. I have a pretty decent idea of what kind of building I want, and a slightly more vague idea of where I want to live.

Where do I go from here?

Again, I'm speaking very roughly here, but I'm thinking of applying for mortgage pre-approval in July and collecting real estate agent recommendations. I'd like to settle on an agent around August or September, and start touring homes a bit after that. Because I'm pretty flexible on my moving timeframe, I think the ideal time for me to move would be somewhere in the December to mid-February timeframe, which is traditionally when the market is slowest and prices are lowest. I'd like to be able to take action earlier if a great opportunity presents itself, though, and not feel pressured to buy by any particular time.

What am I looking for?

Several things are most important to me. One of the biggest is having good access to urban centers. I wouldn't be able to stand living in, say, the central valley and being a super-commuter. Ideally I would be able to get to my office in a very short time and minimize commuting. One complication here is that my office will probably change location before I do - either from changing jobs or because we've outgrown our space. So I'm really looking more at zones or corridors than points - identifying spots that will be most convenient to the most likely employment locations.

On a very related note, I'm focusing on public transit options. Right now I live more than 50 miles from where I work, but it's surprisingly bearable because of the transit options available. Distances that would drive me nuts to drive can be tolerated if covered by train or on bicycle. I'm not a fan of buses, but appreciate Caltrain and BART. Looking to the future, I expect that the coming decades will see a return to rising energy costs, and employers increasingly supporting transit by employees, meaning that as long as I can reach a major station nearby, I'll be able to rely on them to get me the rest of the way there.

Of course, work is only a part of what's important to me. Besides a convenient commute, I also want access to the things I enjoy doing. Fortunately for me, the entire Bay Area is rich in opportunities for things like hiking. Access to a public library and a farmers' market would be nice as well. One thing that would be much better than my current location is convenient access to San Francisco. I can easily get to the city for things, but getting home is more of an obstacle, especially late at night. It becomes a lot less convenient to take Caltrain late at night, and trains stop running entirely at midnight. It's frustrating to have to pass on fun-sounding events, speakers, concerts, plays, etc. when I know that I won't be able to make it home afterwards. I also hope to do more in the city when it becomes easier to go there. Even when it works out for me time-wise, on the weekends it takes over 90 minutes just to get into the city by train, and few activities are worth a 3-hour round trip weekend ride.

Going to San Francisco is a blast, but the truth is that I'm an introvert and ultimately a bit of a homebody... I enjoy going out to do specific things, but by default I spend much of my leisure time at home. As such, having a comfortable space is important. Something fairly quiet would be nice - finances dictate that I'll be getting a condo, so I'm not expecting complete silence, but the less noise the better; I don't want to be edged up against Highway 101 or above a Market Street hot spot. I don't need a ton of space, but it'd be nice to have at least as much as I have now, about 650 square feet... that's enough to comfortably store all the stuff I need, and feel like I have enough room to live, breathe, and move around. I do a decent amount of cooking, so a workable kitchen is important. I don't do much entertaining, so I don't really care about designer accents or anything like that.

And, since I'm paying big bucks to live in California, I want to be able to enjoy it. That means having some kind of balcony, porch, or small yard so I can take full, gleeful advantage of those warm and sunny February days.

One of my litmus tests is that I don't want to live anyplace where I need to mow the lawn. While I do like the idea of becoming a homeowner, the domestic tasks that come with being a houseowner - mowing, painting, gardening, and so on - don't do anything for me. I can't say that they never will, but right now I just feel like there are a lot of things I would rather spend my time and attention on than looking after a physical property. Because of this, and because they're (relatively) cheap, I plan to buy a condominium.

So, there you have it, my first take at what I'm looking for. Coming soon: locations currently under consideration.