I am the only person who will answer you who is not a real estate agent and not too suprisingly, I will be the only one who will suggest that you rent for a while and get a feel for The City before you buy. If you want to live very close to downtown, but still family friendly, try renting in Noe Valley, if the suburban lifestyle is more your thing, I think Walnut Creek or Concord might be better.
There are many good schools in San Francisco, but you have to enter a lottery and rank your top seven choices, so it is a bit of a crap shoot. Walnut Creek is purported to have excellent public schools. - Sun Feb 10 2008, 23:40
If you want a safe, quiet neighborhood in SF and your budget is $950k and you want a Single Family home, I suggest you check out Westwood Highlands, Miraloma Park and Glen Park. They are clean, safe, quite and in your price range. You would be hard pressed to even get a buildable lot for that price in Noe. - Sun Feb 10 2008, 23:23
How about The Panhandle, or NoPa as real estate agents are calling it these days? I guess it depends on where you go to school. You can also probably find a place in the Inner Sunset or Ingleside for that price, but I don't know how cool they are. I would avoid Bayview, unless you know some people there. - Wed Nov 7 2007, 21:58
MVPs or 'Most Valuable Players' are key Trulia Voices members who have been contributing high-quality content throughout 2008 and providing valuable advice to consumers and real estate professionals.