For those in the bay area: which city to buy in?

[zazpowered]

I'm looking to buy a place in the Bay area soon because I don't think it's worth it to continue to pay rent. Where do you guys think is a good place to buy for the best appreciation? I working in SF so ideally it would be somewhere that's at least decently close but I think places inside SF will be too expensive. I think Oakland has a lot of potential because tech companies are moving in and the prices are still reasonable. My budget is probably 500-800k

[Another Reader]

In your shoes, I would find an inexpensive rental housing situation and be patient.  The housing market has already slowed and prices will likely stabilize and then drop some.  I would spend some time looking at various neighborhoods and cities within an easy commute of your job.  If your job is likely to last fewer than five years, or you are on the job hopping helix, I would not buy at all until the work situation stabilizes.

Renting now can save you from being trapped in a property just when you need to sell because of a job change or loss.  Save up some cash and buy when it makes more sense.

[$200k]

In your shoes, I would consider multi-family unit in Oakland, aka, the house hack.  I think other Oakland members on this forum like Bakari have done really well in them.   

[waltworks]

If anyone needed any more flashing red signs to flee the housing market...

Seriously, don't buy a house if this is how you think about rent and about real estate. Spend some time at the library instead reading up on RE, or just read all the threads here for a few weeks.

-W

[badassprof]

It is a pain to rent and especially here. It not only is hard to find a place (may the universe help you if you have pets) but also to keep a place. A lot of folks in other parts of the country might not understand the churn that happens with rentals, even in places with rent control, so I understand why'd you might want the security of owning. But that said, I'm not sure we'd buy a house right now if we didn't already have one, and we have a healthy income (260+).

And yes, we house hack. Two bedroom rental that pays about 3/4 of our mortgage and is in high demand due to access to UC Berkeley and good schools. But that house was purchased over 10 years ago, and houses with units seem to be going at a premium at the moment (at least according to friends--former tenants!--who are trying to find a place with a MIL unit).

[jkitiara]

No great answers, but my husband and I have been looking too. Depends on exactly where you work and how you want to commute. We are NOT east bayers. Looking at Daly City, Brisbane, or Pacifica, which have lower prices because they are weirdly unpopular despite being crazy close to city. We work from home though, and thus don't need proximity to BART or Muni necessarily (though we still want it).
Also there are these really boring neighborhoods in outer sunset that can be surprisingly affordable too, again, because they're even farther from DT SF than Oakland is!
Farther out east bay like Richmond or Orinda may have much better deals if you're willing.