We will be visiting Wine Country for the first time this October.

We are renting a house in Somona, and hope to see most of Sonoma Valley, and some of Napa Valley.

One of the reasons we are going - other than for some R&R and because we've always wanted to see the area - is because we are thinking of relocating in retirement - not for several years to Santa Rosa.

I've read Santa Rosa is large and easy to get lost in. Can anyone recommend nice neighborhoods/streets that we might want to drive through to get a feel for the area? We like the older, more established neighborhoods, rather than tract housing developments.

We also have heard Petaluma is worth checking out, but it might be too pricey for our budget. I've heard that West Petaluma is the place to look.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hey wanderer, are we still on for that
drink by the Petaluma river?
I have no new info to give you from the
last time you asked this question here.
Well, except that the median price of a house in Sonoma/Napa/Mendocino
counties is up 15% from a year ago and is at $451K.
Also, in an article in the Press Democrat (local paper) on March 22-the author talks about his own desire to downsize to a condo/townhouse. He finds that the median price in the county is
$275K-yet that would be a "major fixer" or small 1 bdrm "starter home". The writer continues to say that the $395K "decent condo"they were bidding on was toured by 125
prospective buyers-the owner rec'd 10 offers over a 3-week period all of which exceeded the asking price.
In addition, we have dear friends who live in a "decent"
townhouse in West Petaluma- their
neighbors sold a 1,986 sq.ft/3 story/
3 bdrm/3 bath in Feb.for....sit down....
$410K. Which means their house of same size/layout is worth more today (and they paid $192,500 in 1999).
Insane? You betcha!
So my suggestion to you is to stop worrying about streets and start subsribing to at least the Sunday
or weekend Press Democrat ASAP and do your homework in the Real Estate
section. You can do an online search
at pressdemocrat.com and in the advanced
archive box search put the words "housing
costs"-I pulled up 200 articles.
If there is anyway you can buy now, sooner is better. If you think you can buy now and rent it out for a year or two-you might save $100K. This is just my simple non-pro research and experience of living here.
That said, October is the month to be here! Do come and enjoy Sonoma.
R5

You might look a little to the northwest. Forestville is a nice small town only about 15 minutes or less from Santa Rosa. Don't know the streets well, but it is very family oriented.

West Sonoma County may not be a bad idea
A little less $$ than Petaluma/Sonoma and SR. Sebastopol is not cheap, Forestville, maybe. Relatively good deals are to be had in Cloverdale it's not far from SR. But I wouldn't take to long on buying there either!
You can certainly get a good comparison on prices in the Real estate section of the paper or online.

Yes, RazzleDazzle, that IS me. We were unable to come out last year as planned because we had a very ill pet that we were unable to leave. Hope you didn't wait by the river long for that drink.

We are in no position to buy now, as we are not yet close to retirement, but prices in SR are no different from where we live, so I'm sure things will keep pace. We live in a 1,100 sq. ft. townhome which was just appraised at 350K. You can't touch a house (small that doesn't need a ton of work) for under 550K. 3BR/2BA homes that are "nice" here (that you would want to live in are going for 600-700K.

We do frequently check realtor.com, and have a local realtor send us listings matching our criteria.

I asked about streets for 2 reasons. First, we don't want to be driving around Santa Rosa in circles, and second, everyone knows location is one of the most important things in a new town - I'm not going to live in a "bad" part of town because I can find a cheap house.

Just like the person who told me West Petaluma is the nicest part, there are, I'm sure better parts of Santa Rosa than others. Location, location, location is what will drive our decision, not price.

CHeck out the Bennett Valley area of Santa Rosa.

Ha-ha Wanderer! Maybe we will meet up this year?
OK, now I see we are on the same page
info. wise I can assist with areas more than street names-do you have a good street map of SR? NW Santa Rosa has some
"spotty" areas-paticularly one called Apple Valley-just North of Guerneville Road and West of Hwy 101-probably a few miles square there to avoid.
Bennett Valley is lovely! That is Southeast SR adjacent to Annadel Park
and near to plentiful shopping. (Nice open air centers-not sprawly malls)About 1 mile South of downtown along Santa Rosa Ave and into Rohnert Park is not great. Just North of downtown (north and east of Mendocino Ave.) are lovely old homes. Northeast Santa Rosa has McMansions in an area called Fountaingrove. Southwest SR is new homes mixed with ranchettes. Not a "bad" area-there may be a gem or 2 there. There is no place in Petaluma that I would caution you not to live. Hope that helps-happy to answer questions if I can!
Happy Hunting!
R5

P.S. So sad to hear about your pet-have been there and it is so tough
R5

Thank you PamSF and RazzleDazzle!! This is just the type of info. We are not opposed to another townhome, and would prefer older home to "tract" style.

Sadly, we lost our beloved 18 year old cat (Scooter) on March 3rd of this year after a 1 1/2 year fight with CRF.

I wouldn't trust Pam and R5. They drink waaaay too much!

Now, I have to go air out a bottle of "The Prisoner" for the Kings game in 20 mins...I know I'll NEED it!

BTW, just found out we may be in that area over Mem Day weekend for a wedding at Trentadue??? Hmmmmmm??? :-?

Someone I spoke with suggested looking at downtown Napa area. Said it used to be kinda rundown, but was getting revived and fixed up.

Worth looking at?