Offtrack

I work in Santa Clara and have had several co-workers purchase homes in the valley for the reasons you listed. Every one of them has had to find work closer to home once they figured out how the length and stress of their commute had on their lives.

Each one of them thought they could deal with the commute but found otherwise very quickly. I would recommend figuring out a a way you can try this on a trial basis before you lock yourself into a mortgage. Unless you want to try to find a job their too.

rydelow

I had to sell one of my guns in Manteca at bass pro shops. I did not like that commute at all. I went mid day on the weekend so I did not deal with traffic, but it took me 1hr 45 min doing a steady 70mph. Got back in 1hr 20min (give or take 5 min) doing 80-85 with moderate traffic 3pm in the afternoon. I don't know if I could handle that drive every day for work. I think the drive alone would drag my day longer and burn me out quicker if anything with the traffic mess involved.

jerZs2k

All i can tell you straight up i 580 both ways sux! When i go out to modesto i make sure that there is no traffic bro! Its pretty bad in the evening like everbody says. It take me an 1 hour and 29 mins to get to central valley. Coming from union city.

19wrath85

My dad did this, we lived in San Jo and moved to Los banos, he survived 9 years and we ended right back to Morgan hill simply for the commute he couldn't handle any longer. The house for price versus time doesn't equal. Imagine how all the time spent away from your family will not only affect you but them also. I've found plenty of houses in the 250-300 range in the bay area and are pretty nice in good areas. Be patient and the right house will come around when the time for you to buy you first house is right.
Good luck with the decision bro

As much as everyone would hate to see you go, rest assured s2ki bay area will always support your decision and you will always be apart of the s2ki family

stacey

I live in Tracy, and I do...somewhat. Trust me, you don't want to do it, and I'm saying this from the fact that I'm rarely at home. Think about it, I'm pretty sure that working isn't the only thing that you do in the bay area, and having to drive 1hr (or more...) to hang out with friends, go out, etc. will get old FAST.

My dad commutes from Tracy to San Jose/Sunnyvale, and IDK how he deals with that, he's usually out the door by 4-5am. Leave town any later than that, and it's pretty bad. And leaving 6-8am it will take you an hour just to get to Livermore.

gpwuster

unless you have job(s) line up at that area, it is just not worth it. Good luck

Voodoo_S2K

Do you expect to always have the same job and to always work together? What happens if you guys end up getting jobs in the future that don't allow for a commute together? Your together time is going to drop dramatically and I wouldn't exactly call commuting together "quality" time together.

Hanzel28

Life happens. We do work together, and no we don't EXPECT to always have the benefits of working together. If we don't commute together then one of us may have to leave earlier. Life will always have it's complications. I don't think just anyone could handle a commute like that, or want to, but in our case, we feel it might just be worth it. I'm sure there are plenty of others who are doing this. We don't all make tons of money, and although it may all add up to the same amount of expenses for the cost of commuting and such, at lease we'd have a place to call our own HOME. We don't have any problems with how much quality time we have together. After 9 years I think we would be able to make it work just fine. We have had worse scenarios in the past. One of us doing morning shifts and one doing night shifts. It made our quality time that much more meaningful.

Voodoo_S2K

Sounds to me like you have all the information you need and obviously only you can determine what livable. I can tell you that having your own home is a nice feeling, but there are tons of sacrifices that come with it without having to deal with spending most of your day away from home.

S2KN05

Hanzel. It seems like you guys already decided on the move and just want to have some people agree with you but the case is that we don't like seeing you go and suffer 4 hours commute each day. You said the house is an investment. But let me ask you a few questions. What is you long term goal after you guys have bought the house? Do you plan on staying in the Valley forever? Do you guys want to move back to the Bay Area when the housing market goes up again? Would you guys borrow against the house to do it or sell it outright? Are you planning to buy a second house which is a true "investment?"