wow, didn't know most of mountain view sits on toxic sites.
03-12-2009, 03:28 PM
#11
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well, gf already bought a place in mt view.
in mt view, but on the corner of los altos and palo alto, so she got the los altos school district, so that was a bonus.
mt view is VERY patchy though.
In terms of where else you'd be looking, what's the price point? +100-200 will get you into the starter homes in Palo alto.
mt view is VERY patchy though.
In terms of where else you'd be looking, what's the price point? +100-200 will get you into the starter homes in Palo alto.
03-12-2009, 07:35 PM
#13
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12 years old, but looks fairly new. If under 700, mt view's complexes are your best bet; they
shield you from the patchy/shotty neighborhoods.
are you on mlslistings.com? Just put in a bunch of areas that are 600-700, or better yet, go to an agent's site that can keep you posted with updates in whatever neighborhood you're looking at.
Also, you want to stay away from places that have the space to develop new (i.e. santa clara complexes...new ones pop up easily with all the land).
The #1 aspect of the gf's place is the los altos school district imho.
are you on mlslistings.com? Just put in a bunch of areas that are 600-700, or better yet, go to an agent's site that can keep you posted with updates in whatever neighborhood you're looking at.
Also, you want to stay away from places that have the space to develop new (i.e. santa clara complexes...new ones pop up easily with all the land).
The #1 aspect of the gf's place is the los altos school district imho.
03-12-2009, 09:01 PM
#14
For $750K or so we'd sell our place.
2 car garage, room for another 3 or 4 in the driveway, plus room for 2 in the side yard (which we keep under tarp tent), plus another 5 or 6 on the street out front. The house is just under 1200 sq ft, but we've gone through the wiring, some of the plumbing, insulated most of the walls, new drywall, Bosch tankless water heater, new Bosch dishwsher, etc. Much of the house is sturdy redwood construction, with no floor squeaks or that sort of thing. 8700sq ft of land total. My biggest complaints are that the tiles in the kitchen are cold in the morning and the (dual pane installed before we bought) windows in the living room have breached so they are a tiny bit cloudy in spots. We're about to redo the final bathroom this Spring.
No superfund of any sort. Just Santa Clara clay
No superfund of any sort. Just Santa Clara clay
03-12-2009, 09:47 PM
#15
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Hmmmmm . . .
The Bosch on-demand, Aquastar is the model family I recall, is considered..... so-so in quality. This means keep an eye on it after five years. Takagi and any of the Japanese brands are considered superior in quality of construction and longevity.
As for the cold tile in the kitchen, you could have some radiant heating (copper lines... not the plastic pex crap) installed in the floor joists below and connected to a standard water heater, say a forty gallon unit. Put the line on a digital thermostat and it can turn on an hour or two before you wake up in the morning; Think, "warm toesies." The climate is mild here as you know so it's easily doable. That's on my list of "to do's" at my house for the bathroom tile.... brrrrrr.
1200 square feet.... hmmmmmm; is the house from the 1920s ? A Bungalow/Craftsman?
.
As for the cold tile in the kitchen, you could have some radiant heating (copper lines... not the plastic pex crap) installed in the floor joists below and connected to a standard water heater, say a forty gallon unit. Put the line on a digital thermostat and it can turn on an hour or two before you wake up in the morning; Think, "warm toesies." The climate is mild here as you know so it's easily doable. That's on my list of "to do's" at my house for the bathroom tile.... brrrrrr.
1200 square feet.... hmmmmmm; is the house from the 1920s ? A Bungalow/Craftsman?
.
03-12-2009, 10:14 PM
#16
We went with the water heater because it does not require a pilot or power to light it off.
It uses water pressure to spin the ignitor. 2 years and still good.
The tile floors are a legacy. If I get around to it, I'll replace it with sealed cork. Softer, quieter, warmer, and all around more livable. Especially since we do not have a hot water tank. We'll likely replace the tile countertops in the kitchen with soapstone this Summer. The water softener should be in by then too.
The house is a 50's ranch. Very solid. It's partially why we bought it over something newer. We're the 2nd owner, so it hasn't been messed up by a lot of cheap repairs or "upgrades".
We checked with the city and there is lots of room for house or garage expansion.
The tile floors are a legacy. If I get around to it, I'll replace it with sealed cork. Softer, quieter, warmer, and all around more livable. Especially since we do not have a hot water tank. We'll likely replace the tile countertops in the kitchen with soapstone this Summer. The water softener should be in by then too.
The house is a 50's ranch. Very solid. It's partially why we bought it over something newer. We're the 2nd owner, so it hasn't been messed up by a lot of cheap repairs or "upgrades".
We checked with the city and there is lots of room for house or garage expansion.
03-13-2009, 05:40 AM
#17
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One-fifth of an acre of land in the Bay Area is H U G E . . .
so that must be fun. Thumbs up on the cork flooring. I forgot about that feature on the Aquastars. Still, keep an eye on it once in a while.
I'm working at a house in the Berkeley Hills that was built after the firestorm of '91. Looks great from a distance but absolute crap construction; very low craftsmanship if any, and a bit of an overall mess. The things I'm "correcting" makes me shake my head in amazement..... yet again. Thank God for ****ty work, I'll be employed FOREVER because of it.
As a result I've long been turned off to almost any construction built circa "The Brady Bunch Era" onwards.
When you and your husband build your "super garage" you MUST build it tall enough for a full-fledged car lift. If you don't it will haunt the two of you forever. Heed my words.
.
I'm working at a house in the Berkeley Hills that was built after the firestorm of '91. Looks great from a distance but absolute crap construction; very low craftsmanship if any, and a bit of an overall mess. The things I'm "correcting" makes me shake my head in amazement..... yet again. Thank God for ****ty work, I'll be employed FOREVER because of it.
As a result I've long been turned off to almost any construction built circa "The Brady Bunch Era" onwards.
When you and your husband build your "super garage" you MUST build it tall enough for a full-fledged car lift. If you don't it will haunt the two of you forever. Heed my words.
.
03-13-2009, 09:00 AM
#18
I hear you on some of the newer homes. One of the first things we do upon looking at a house
is to look in the crawl space and/or attic. The build quality and crap materials are astonishing in some cases.
We're thinking the new garage will be a steel frame type that matches the look of the house externally. That will allow us to keep it very open inside.
We're thinking the new garage will be a steel frame type that matches the look of the house externally. That will allow us to keep it very open inside.
