Owning Property, (Almost) Two Years Later

It's crazy to think, but coming up on two years now, I purchased my condo. I absolutely love it and have no regrets, but there are some things I wish I had considered. Here's a short story of what I wished I could tell myself those 2 years ago, and things (specific to me) that are really important in finding a place to live.

The Location

Location is often said to be the most important factor in choosing a place to live. That is definitely said with reason.

Proximity to Work

This is something I thought of extensively before buying a house. You should see the maps I drew! My requirement was to have a commute time less than my current living situation, at my parents' house. I was able to find that, but I wish I pushed this further. My commute time is around 45 minutes on average, and sometimes up to an hour when traffic gets really bad. I could have spent 10% more to live about 30% closer to work in a different city. There were other reasons why I didn't do that, but I definitely should have weighed this a bit more.

I need to cross the Richmond-San Rafael bridge to get to work. This is a toll bridge, which I factored in. A new development is that the toll rates are undergoing a significant increase in 2025.

A minor factor of consideration is living east or west of work. I live west of work, so I commute east in the morning and west in the evening. That means I have the sun in my face in both directions.

City Culture

Unless you move to a rural area, you likely live in a town or city of some sort. What is the community like? What is the cost of living in that area? I wished I determined my priorities first and then chose a city with those same priorities.

• Quiet and safe environment, with a lot of green space
  • Maintaining local parks, with clean and free public facilities
  • Proximity to national/state/regional parks
• Traffic safety and alternatives to driving
  • Well maintained roads, few or no potholes
  • Friendly area for walking or biking, e.g. abundant sidewalks and bike lanes
• Having all essential amentities within the city
  • Medical, dental, shopping, gas, and several food options
  • I do not want to leave town for groceries, for example
• Entertainment options
  • Movies, bowling, museums, arcade or games store
  • Possibly more exotic activities, like escape rooms, axe throwing, etc.
• Lower cost of living
  • Going out to eat should not make you poor for the rest of the month
• Population and neighbors
  • Like-minded political views
  • Large group of people in their 20s and 30s

Transportation Alternatives

Something I hadn't considered at all were alternatives to driving everywhere I needed to go. I got lucky in this regard. I ended up in a condo where I could walk almost everywhere. Two grocery stores, a postal office, my barber, several food options, a hardware store, pharmacy, pet store, and the dollar store were just a short walk away. Downtown, with even more options, was a slightly longer walk away but I could still get there in under 20 minutes on foot.

There also turned out to be three well-established transit organizations in my town. The incredibly cheap Marin Transit with 3 bus lines in my town to different destinations within the county, and Golden Gate transit, with 2 bus lines in my town, going either to San Francisco or Santa Rosa. A few towns over, Golden Gate offers two ferry routes to San Francisco. Also, the SMART train has 3 stations in my town. Technically, I don't need a car at all to get anywhere in the bay area. I could take the bus to SF and then BART for example.

The next time I relocate, this will definitely be a primary consideration. I think living a walkable area is the most important, with transit options coming in close second.

The House Itself

I wanted to make sure I live in a place that has the amenities I need above things I want. For that, I needed to create a list of things I am looking for in a place to live and then sort them into two categories.

Things I Need

• Washer/Dryer: An absolute must for me. I've lived in apartments with and without a washer/dryer in-unit, and it was very annoying to go down to the laundry room to discover that half the laundry machines are broken and the other half still have an hour left on the timer. Paying to do your laundry is also just a slap in the face. Why would I pay for something I don't want to do in the first place?
• Dishwasher: Luckily, I've never lived in a place without one, but I already can tell you that it would get old, fast, if I didn't have a dishwasher.
• Central A/C: California gets HOT in the summer. In the east bay, it can easily get over 100s and sit there for weeks at a time, and where I used to live in the central valley, we're talking 110s. I think we even had heat waves where it peaked over 120 degrees F. It also cools down much more slowly, the further you are away from the San Francisco Bay.
• Reserved Parking: I own a car, which means I need a place to put it. Simple as that.

Things I Want

• Car Port or Garage: This isn't absolutely necessary, depending on the weather and safety of where I live. Essentially I just need a safe place to put my car, away from falling branches, and ideally off the street.
• Central Heating: It doesn't get as cold in this area, plus I actually like the cold. On very cold days I might like to run the heater, but if I need to add more layers, or get a space heater instead, so be it.
• New appliances: This is definitely nice to have, as it will save me a great deal of money after move-in if I don't need to replace anything.
• Private outdoor space: At the other places I've lived, I enjoy working from home outdoors, or just sitting outdoors reading or on my computer. This would also open the option of ever getting a dog in the future.
• Fiber internet: I plan to work from home sometimes and a fast internet would be helpful for this. Fiber is a relatively new technology in this area, and most houses or apartments don't have the infrastructure yet, so it's not something I can realistically expect to find in affordable homes.
• No upstairs/downstairs neighbors: The last thing I want is to put a several-thousand-dollar down payment on an apartment and discover that the upstairs neighbors run an at-home jackhammer-testing service. Instead, having the upstairs unit would also be a pain. Moving in or having to walk up the stairs coming home every day, especially when carrying large items like grocery bags, would not be fun for long. I'm putting this on the "want" list since it may not be realistic to expect to find an affordable place with this requirement.
• A nice view, with southeast-facing windows: Let's face it. I got a bit screwed with this one. I'm one of the ~10 units in my ~100-unit complex that faces directly into another building. I can see some trees and the pool from my windows, but the view doesn't pull me out of bed in the morning.

Hidden Costs

Something I knew before purchasing was that there were hidden costs on top of the mortgage payment. But you don't realize how much they hurt until you're paying them. I am a planner, and factored in all the costs ahead of time, but it still doesn't make things any easier. I live in a condo which has a monthly HOA fee. Luckily, this covers things like garbage and water, so I don't have an additional bill for those. However, I still have to pay property tax, which is about 1.5% of my assessed value, anually. Do the math yourself but you'll see this comes out to an average of several hundred dollars per month. For a million dollar home (not mine), that's $1,250 per month! I also have to pay for home insurance, another new cost that I didn't have while renting. This is a bit cheaper for a condo. Since I now own, I have to pay out of pocket to maintain my house. And of course, I have all the usual bills, like electricity and internet.

In total, the "hidden costs" add over 50% to my mortgage payments!

What would I have done differently?

If I could go back and have a conversation with myself 2 years ago, I would highlight some things and recommend a few different options.

1. Spend more time looking around in San Rafael and Larkspur, or even further south in Marin. I know I would have a much higher monthly payment, and higher cost of living, but I would also save myself money and time when commuting. I think those cities also hit more of my requirements than Novato does. The cost-of-living margin is getting narrower too, as a sales tax measure just passed in Novato.
2. Consider roommates. For this, I would need to make sure I get at least a 2-bed, 2-bath situation. A situation like this would heavily cut my housing costs and allow me to live in a higher cost-of-living area. I could consider this for my 2-bed, 1.5-bath. But sharing my bathroom with a stranger? That's funny.
3. Beware the bridge. Like I mentioned earlier, tolls are increasing in 2025 for all of the bay area bridges. That's just going to add more financial stress.
4. Consider the cheapest available option, and put the highest down payment, or cash offer if possible. One reason I wanted to own instead of rent is to build equity. 100% of your rental payments is "thrown away," but some of your mortgage payment builds equity. Right now, about 80% of my mortgage payment is "thrown away" as interest, which is still less than 100%, but even in this situation I feel like I might as well just set my money on fire to stay warm. If I was able to buy a cheaper place with a 10-year mortgage or even submit a full cash offer, I would throw away significantly less money every month.
5. Watch for hazard zones. I live in a flood zone which requires me to pay for flood insurance, indirectly through HOA fees. Also, it's just a little stressful knowing that there is a real risk of flooding. Other common hazard types to watch out for include wildfires and earthquakes.
6. Stress the importance of a walkable area. I got lucky finding myself in an area with a walk score of 84/100, but I could have just as easily found myself in another condo in the same city with a walk score of 13/100.
7. Stress the importance of alternate transportation. I own a car and plan to use it to the ground, but what if it breaks down, and I need to go to work or even to the hospital? My location has a transit score of 38/100, but feels much higher.
8. Stress the importance of activities within the city. Novato has some museums, theaters, a weekly farmer's market, and its fair share of outdoor-focused activities, but it's a very sleepy town and things close early. I frequently need to go out of town for other activities. Also, the median age is almost 50 years. Culturally, it's about as far as you can get from a college town.