House hunt before job hunt? Relocation advice from Agent Susie

This weekend, some home buyers dropped in on the open house I was hosting. This beautiful home is the hills of Montclair, a charming part of Oakland known for its views.

They were visiting from another state and thinking about moving to the Bay Area. Visiting open houses is an awesome way to discover neighborhoods. You can meet agents who might be a good fit for your house hunt. It’s an easy way to get tips about daily living in an area.

Interestingly, they had not investigated the local employers in their field of work. So I shared all of the various companies and what the commutes would be like. Berkeley, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton were all possibilities.

While chatting, I wondered: Would someone really buy a house without knowing where they would end up working? (It wasn’t a WFH-friendly career.)

Knowing your future Bay Area commute is a serious consideration for all home buyers.

The last thing you want is to buy a house then find out the hard way about your commute.

When house hunting in the East Bay, ask yourself:

1. Will you be taking BART / bus? Maybe the ferry?
2. Will you be commuting WITH all the other commuters or against? Or in off-commute hours?
3. Are there possible jobs where you can take surface streets?

House hunting and quality of life go hand-in-hand.

For example, the Central Berkeley house we just sold for 70% over the list price (at nearly $2.9 million). It was such a hot property because of the location, with multiple options for commuting, working, eating, playing.

When marketing the listing, we highlighted the location for people not familiar with the area. Plus as local listing agents, we were able to talk in detail about what life at this lovely home would be like. It didn’t hurt that it had an ADU, something that’s on more buyers’ “must have” lists.

Those house hunters at my open house were “just starting” their search. One finally mentioned they would probably end up working in San Francisco. A commute from the hills of Oakland passed through my mind.

There are a remarkably extensive bus lines to and from the East Bay and San Francisco. Alameda has multiple ferries, making it a great at spot for San Francisco workers. (One of my clients takes a beautiful ferry ride to Google near the Embarcadero. Life imitating a vacation! I captured my fave pic of this pelican while we were waiting for the ferry one beautiful day.)

Pro tip: Take your time to think of the pros and cons of a location before plunking down an offer. And if you don’t live in the area, or even if you live in San Francisco, be sure the agent you engage will be willing to make videos and do video home tours with you!

Reach out to brainstorm where to live based on your work and life goals, no obligation to work with me! I can even connect you with agents anywhere in the world, in case your ideal commute looks more like to biking past vineyards in the South of France.

Susie Wyshak, Compass

DRE 02144226

No AI was involved in the writing of this post.