I can't help you with much regarding home ownership because I lived in the beautiful East Bay as a renter but I can suggest a couple wonderful neighborhoods for you to check out. I loved living in the East Bay...

Just off College Ave is the 'Rockridge' neighborhood. It is a wonderful and 'hip' place to live. A little further from the college but still considered close is the 'Piedmont' area. Two wonderful, family friendly and safe neighborhoods.

Right on the money, golddust! I had to look at a map, but we stayed very near to the Rockridge neighborhood, and enjoyed some great meals on College Ave. We drove around Piedmont, too, but I think that area may be more grand or suburban than our ideal. We love the Claremont and Claremont Hills area, and The Highlands, too. Surprisingly, I liked the low hills more than the highest areas in the Berkeley Hills.

Oh, I forgot about Clairemont. Used to get my hair cut in that neighborhood. Also a great neighborhood...

Lower Piedmont is much more friendly and less grand than upper Piedmont. My DS lived on Linda Ave., just off Piedmont Ave. Wonderful neighborhood. I lived in Rockridge.

Don't know about The Highlands. Maybe it was too rich for my pocketbook, or up and coming, back then.

oops - it was the Uplands, not the Highlands!

Earthquake insurance is not mandatory, and those policies are completely separate from regular homeowner's policies, because they are offered through the California Earthquake Authority (although you still do the actual purchasing through your regular insurance carrier.) The state had to go this central authority model after the Northridge earthquake, as the insurance carriers stopped offering earthquake insurance. So, regular homeowners policies will not be affected by earthquake coverage.

Water rates tend to vary over the state a lot, and I'm in So Cal now (grew up in the East Bay, in Walnut Creek), so can't help you directly. Power bills vary less, I think. Berkeley has a VERY temperate climate, so electricity bills should be less than $100/mo I think. You won't need your heater very much, or your AC.

My aunt used to live in Berkeley, but she lived on the other side of town from the university, near the border with Albany, I think. She was just a few blocks from Solano Ave., in a really nice quiet neighborhood. We just sold her house recently, and I liked the real estate agent we had. If you want her name I can email it to you.

My husband lived in Albany years ago when he attended UC-Berkeley. We also enjoyed meals on Solano Avenue (can you tell we like to eat?) I've never e-mailed on this site, but I'll give it a try -- I would like a broker reference -- thanks.

Living in California can be very expensive, especially when you are on or near the coast, which Berkeley is. I can't tell you about the Berkeley lifestyle in detail, as we are on the Monterey Peninsula, about 90-100 miles south (by CA standards that's an easy drive).

As far as I know, earthquake insurance is not a standard inclusion in one's homeowners insurance. It must be bought separately, at least down here, and it is very expensive. Most people we know don't have it. Instead, we retrofit our homes, things like bracing the foundation if necessary, and bracing and belting the water heater, and avoiding buying brick homes. I use museum putty to hold decorative items that are more than a few feet off the floor, and never hang anything heavy over beds. Coping with quakes is a way of life that you learn to take for granted and actually rarely worry about.

I don't know how electricity and water compare to the East Coast. A real estate agent could tell you. But most of California is in a perpetual water crisis/drought and we are constantly exhorted to save, save, save water. Probably a bit different in the Bay Area and the Sierras, though. But you will still hear plenty about saving water. Remember that most of this state, except for the redwood and mountain regions, is a natural desert.

California is notorious for its taxes. The sales tax is 7.25% and the state income tax is from about 8%-9.30% for most working couples. I pay our federal income tax without complaint, but constantly grit my teeth over the state income tax because, frankly, outside of our immediate area I don't see much bang for my buck. In fact, the state is under a constant threat of bankruptcy. Many Californians are fleeing to Washington and Nevada (no state income tax) and Oregon (no sales tax). Popular tourist destinations are well-cared for, though, places like Monterey, parts of the Bay Area, the southern CA beach/resort communities, the area up to Lake Tahoe.

This is a very beautiful and remarkable state and DH and I don't regret for a minute our moving here. But life, especially for newcomers and especially on a modest budget, is not always easy. If I were making a move this drastic, I would come out and rent for awhile. We rented for almost two years before we bought; it allowed us to get to know the community really well, and to learn how to budget keeping a mortgage in mind.

Good luck!

Being from MN I don't know anything about the area but wanted to mention that city-data forums are great sources of info if you're considering a move.

I live in Marin County (over the GGBridge as opposed to the Bay Bridge), but I don't know that there are many foreclosures in Berkeley. Most happened in the outer East Bay (Antioch is a well-known city for foreclosures) and the Central Valley, so you might want to check on that. Housing prices are very variable, and tend to go neighborhood by neighborhood and often block by block. Water bills are not cheap in the Bay Area; much of our water flows to central and southern CA. PGE bills are high; although you will have little need for air conditioning you will need heat and think you will be surprised by how high your bill is! Taxes are high; sales tax is 8-9.5%! Traffic can be bad, very bad. But all that said, I see 20-30 patients a day; at least half are from the East Coast and are NEVER going back. They LOVE it here.

I agree with others who suggested renting before buying. That way you can explore neighborhoods before you co to a large purchase. I agree with Maryanne about the foreclosure situation in Berkeley. Most foreclosures are in the outlying areas.

Yes, traffic can be *really* bad but the public transit system is very good. There is almost no reason to use a car to get anywhere locally. The great thing is there is usually room to keep a vehicle without spending extra fees like in San Francisco.

I live in colder-in-winter, warmer-in-summer Northern CA. My PG&E bills hover around $350. per month, year round. Ouch! Our sales tax is 8.75%. People who move here from elsewhere call our area 'Paradise'. (We have *lots* of Bay Area transplants here, including poet Gary Snyder.) My town is also where many Bay Area people vacation.

Sorry to crash the thread here, but since we have some Bay area folks here, have any of you been to a concert at Oracle arena in Oakland? Van Halen is playing around the time I am there for my major conference, and DH and I would maybe like to check out the show.

Have any of you been there? Is this an area we can safely get to by public transit? We won't have a car.

Yes, you can take a BART train right to the arena--it's the Oakland Coliseum stop on the Fremont line. Depending on where you are coming from , you might need to change trains. Check out www.bart.gov. The arena also has a website.