Pam, you may also consider New Construction in order to qualify for up to a $10,000 tax credit in addition to a possible 1 time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000. This last credit is for anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years and is based on income. The new home credit is not income based and anyone who purchases a brand new home qualifies as long as there are funds left in the budget set aside for this credit.
Gilroy and Morgan Hill are more laid back than other areas of San Jose. There are some great communities in these towns but I agree that certain areas in San Jose, Cupertino, etc. have not seen the price drops that Gilroy and to some extend Morgan Hill has seen which makes it a great time to buy. As mentioned by a previous post, Gilroy has a few excellent schools and if you find something in the north west side of Gilroy your kids would feed into the new high school (Christopher High). Then there are a good number of students who travel to private schools in San Jose from the Morgan Hill and Gilroy area.
I guess it comes down to what you prefer. The quieter, more laid back lifestyle or the busier, more traffic, action and offerings of bigger cities. Both Gilroy and Morgan Hill have excellent shopping opportunities. There are some excellent websites where you can find a wealth of information such as localism.com which offers you an inside of the different aspects of a town or community.

Good Luck with your decision. A move is always difficult.

Anja

Hi Pam. My family relocated last year to Morgan Hill from Sunnyvale, CA (only about 30 miles). My husband and I both still commute to Silicon Valley for work--no jobs in Morgan Hill unless you want to work in the fast food biz. But the housing prices were great and we definitely got more for our money than we would have in Sunnyvale or Santa Clara. However, there is a trade-off. I have a freshman and a 5th grader and honestly I can say that we are not thrilled with the MH school district. I think the level of education and expectation is much higher in the Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and Cupertino areas. And, unless your kids are heavily into sports or church activities, there isn't much to do for kids in MH. We are considering moving back.

Hi Pam,

I moved here 13 years ago from NJ, so I understand your concerns. If you would like to get a realtor/mom's perspective give me a call. 408.623.5830

Lots of luck to you.

Gilroy-suggest westside, Luigi school(api:866) and Solorsano (801) are quite at par with better(pricey) neighborhoods of the Silicon Valley. Neither schools needing improvement.

San Martin, good for ranches, estates especially you like horses.

Morgan Hill-west or east. It is much more affluent (income is around $107K per household).
Commuting is less. Twenty some years ago there was only 1 super market (Knob Hill- numero uno) now it is just an extension of South San Jose with 3 supermarkets.

Crime-check crimereports.com you will be surprised to see big difference even in rural areas.

At present, the entire South Santa Clara County is taking a hit in home price. Homes look like a bargain.
If you are concerned with homes holding value, you need to move to Silicon Valley. Closer location to high paid jobs and high school quality hold up the value. Sellers refuse to budge and prices still are what they were before.

Sam Shueh
author of "South Santa Clara County", 2008 and "Silicon Valley", 2009, Image of America series.

As a lifelong Gilroy resident, Gilroy is for you if you enjoy a more laid back 'country' lifestyle. I've always worked in Silicon Valley which is about a 25 minute commute. My husband works in San Francisco and commutes as well. We have a 21 year old, a 15 year old & a 4 year old. Gilroy is a safe place to raise a family. The make up culturally is 50/50 Hispanic & Caucasian. Gilroy definitely has a Hispanic presence-grocery stores and business catering to Latino's. As i am Hispanic and my husband is white, we feel 100% a part of the community. We own a home in a decent and safe neighborhood. Santa Cruz is 20 minutes away, San Francisco 90 minutes, Monterey half an hour. What a deal!!

Check out Blossom Valley area in South San Jose, close to Almaden and matches your demographic profile. Only a 10 to 15 minute commute to downtown San Jose. Morgan Hill has specific neighborhoods that match your profile as well, yet you can be in 40+ minutes of normal commuting traffic. The Dublin, Pleasonton, Livermore area definately matches your profile but can be a 35+ minute commute in traffic and more expensive.

I specialize in Bank Owned Property, Short Sales and Re-habbing property.

I know you are in the information gathering stage right now and I want to respect your privacy. Check out my free list of Bank Owned and Short Sale properties by visiting:

http://www.jamessellsthebay.com/bargainhunter.asp

This will give you a great idea of the discount properties hitting the market.

Pam,

I'm not a real estate person so I'm not trying to sell you anything. I am a first time home buyer, born and raised in San Jose and I am looking to purchase a home out in the Gilroy area (because of the price). I currently live and work in San Jose (on the west side near Santana Row). Gilroy IS NOT a predominantly white population. If anything it's a predominantly Hispanic population. If anybody tells you different they are lying to you. Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, Los Gatos, Campbell, Santa Clara, Morgan Hill, Willow Glen (not a city, but an area in SJ), Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin... are all cities you should look at.

Pam, if you don't mind the commute, you may also want to consider Scotts Valley. Great schools, nice neighborhoods. May make more sense in terms of what you say you are looking for. Prices are higher for similar types of homes you would find in Gilroy area, but if you don't need the newest home on the block I would check it out.

Glen
831-588-8958

Hi Pam,
My name is Allyson, I think Morgan Hill/Gilroy will would work well for you with your specified needs and wants and in your price range
I have been working as a buyers agent mainly in the REO/Short Sales and have many successful transactions. I have the experience that you may be looking for. I am also very familar with Re-location buyers and their particular needs, having serviced many clients in this capacity.
I have a personal web site where you can find useful information along with the ability to put in an REO search for your given areas that will send you ALL available listings as well as update you as to changes in status and prices.
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,
Allyson
408-705-6578
allyson@homesbyallyson.com

Hi Pam,

Thought I'd chime into the conversation again. In case you are still open to looking in south Santa Clara County, I thought you'd be interested in the new, fantastic Gilroy high school that is opening in August 2009. This will be the second high school in the Gilroy school district. Here is the website for the new school, Christopher High School:

http://chs.gusd.ca.schoolloop.com/

Morgan Hill has two high schools and one, Sobrato High School, was opened only five years ago:

http://sobratohs.ca.campusgrid.net/home/home.html

You can get a large, lovely home in Gilroy and Morgan Hill in the $500k-$700k range. I have sold and listed short sales and bank-owned homes and there are some great deals in these communities. It would be worth your while to visit all the areas you are considering before ruling anything out.

Gretchen Merrick

We will be working in San Jose. We are looing for about a 20/30 minutes commute. We are looking for a larger home, rather than a smaller one. I have been thru Cuppertino and I just don't care for the houses so close together and smaller...It just works better for our family to be spread out a little. Gilroy and Morgan Hill were suggested to us by coworkers, however we are definitely open to suggestions. We are not use to the diversity that California offers yet, so I am looking for an area and schools that are predominately white. I have one child in middleschool and twins that are in high school. We are looking in the $500-700k price range. We were hoping (like so many other people) we could get a fantastic deal on a short sale or a foreclosure. So, I am open for area suggestions, home suggestions, school suggestions, and I am looking for someone that SPECIALIZES in short sales and foreclosures if anyone has any feedback. Thank you!

Hi Pam,

Firstly, WHERE are the job/s going to be when you folks arrive here in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley?? There are so many cities here with good schools, you can have a good choice besides Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
Doesn't sound like you need a rural area, and there are so many criterias in buying a home. It does sound like you need good schools, and commute time and distance for work should be a major consideration.
There are good bargains in homes in Gilroy and Morgan hill, though prices have been steadily falling there, and there are decent schools too. It will be your personal choice, based upon so many different things that YOUR family needs.
I handle Re-location clients and work at Coldwell Banker in Cupertino, CA, cover all of the Bay area. I have re-located five countries myself and understand the nature of relocation deeply. Let me know if i can help in any way. Here are two links, for school API scores and Re-Location Information:

API SCORES WEBSITE FOR ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS….
http://api.cde.ca.gov/API2005/2004Base_Co.aspx?cYear=&cS…

RELOCATION LINK: http://www.californiamoves.com/relocation/communityguides.aspx

Also check out my websites and do some more home searches in different areas specially closer to where the job/s are.

Be well and travel safe, regards,
Nina Daruwalla

Pam, Solorsano has the best scores in terms of Middle Schools in Gilroy and Morgan Hill. The high School in Gilroy also scores a littel higher than Morgan Hill. That is from greatschools.net and doesn't include private schools. Do you have twins? Wait until college and you have three there at the same time :)

Glen

Hi Pam,

I have lived in south Santa Clara County for 21 years and I sell real estate in Gilroy and Morgan Hill. I grew up in Indiana so I know what it's like to move to California from the mid-west. There are many neighborhoods and rural areas in both the Gilroy and Morgan Hill communities that may appeal to you and your family. As far as Gilroy middle schools go, I have friends whose children currently attend Solorsano Middle School and they are quite happy with it. It is located across the street from Eagle Ridge Golf Community. There are several other middle schools in Gilroy as well. Here is the Gilroy school district's website: http://www.gusd.k12.ca.us/

Morgan Hill has two middle schools: Britton and Martin Murphy. Here is the website for the Morgan Hill Unified School District: http://www.mhu.k12.ca.us/

I suppose you should familiarize yourself with both areas and a good Realtor can help you with that. Once you've learned a little about each community and what housing they each have to offer, you can narrow your search down to the school and neighborhoods you are interested in. Please let me know if I can be of assistance.

Gretchen Merrick
408-892-9015
email: GMerrick@InteroRealEstate.com

Hi Again,
Are schools better for middle schoolers/high schoolers in Morgan Hill or Gilroy? Would it be a good idea to buy in Gilroy since prices have dropped so that in 10+ years I will have a good investment? Or, should I stay clear of Gilroy because it has dropped? Thank you for your help!

Pam, 2700 ferguson is in a more rural area, but you are only a couple miles from a lot of shiopping... Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Costco, In and out burgers, Walmart, Starbucks, Sportmart, Gilroy outlets on and on... check out Gilroy chamber of commerace at http://www.gilroy.org/frontpage.php. for school info the perfect place to get test scores and feedback from parents is http://www.greatschools.net. There are some nice newer subdivisions to. Where is work going to be??? Outside of commute time to work I think you can find some great prices and a nice clean area to live. Gilroy has been one of the fastest growing areas in Santa Clara partially because it was more rural and more room to build. On your next trip out tour around and see what you think. Visitors bureau http://www.gilroyvisitor.org/about.php

Glen

Hi there,

Gilroy is pretty rural, and prices have fallen there dramatically. I think that Morgan Hill is a lot more suburban, which can be a plus if you want to have more of a community kind of feel. Are you looking specifically for something farm-like? If so, Gilroy would be perfect. Morgan Hill would be a better option for more traditionally suburban living, with closer neighbors and nearer stores and restaurants.