Go East, San Francisco Person, Go East

We visited the Railroad Museum in August.

We don't travel to Sacramento often, but when we do, we fantasize about living there. Houses cost 25-30% of their Bay Area equivalents, and traffic congestion is much less. Many acquaintances have cashed out from their Peninsula homes and have moved to the Central Valley, creating or adding to a nest egg. As for us, we have dallied too long (again) and have missed the buying bottom.

WSJ: Sacramento Is California’s Newest Real-Estate Hot Spot

Sacramento is finally seeing the kind of downtown resurgence that is been happening in cities across the U.S. over the past 10 to 15 years. And the region is partly benefiting from some spillover as San Francisco and Silicon Valley’s tech boom brings skyrocketing prices and a housing shortage, pushing buyers to look further afield.

About an hour-and-a-half drive northeast of the Bay Area, Sacramento remains relatively affordable. The median price a square foot of a Sacramento-area home is $228, compared with $531 in the Bay Area.

There's less risk with Sacramento real estate, not only because of lower prices but also because there are no major earthquake faults nearby. (To be even safer from tremors, if you do buy stay away from the levees.)