The Best Places to Raise a Family in California

Oakland

Oakland is another great choice for raising a family in California. Located near San Francisco, Oakland offers a more affordable housing market, and provides a walkable city with some great homes available. Oakland is also incredibly diverse, as the top-scoring destination in the National Equity Atlas diversity index. You can expect to be welcomed into a community of different faces, voices, and energies who call Oakland home. Read on to learn why a cash offer is better when buying a house in Oakland.

San Diego

San Diego is known all over the world for its nearly perfect weather. But did you know it’s also a great place to raise a family? This charming, coastal city offers the quintessential Southern California experience: sun, sand, and surf — but it’s so much more than that. San Diego has a thriving job market, with a downtown research and development district for life sciences and a large naval base, as well as a number of large organizations, such as Kaiser Permanente and General Dynamics, having operations here, as well. This coastal city is also surrounded by numerous family-friendly suburbs. Check out some of the best neighborhoods to live in San Diego.

Long Beach

Long Beach is a great place to raise a family in California and proves that it is possible to live in Southern California without owning a car. The Long Beach area is incredibly walkable, allowing you to easily navigate the city by foot or utilizing public transportation. And while Long Beach real estate is pricy compared to other regions, it’s actually a bargain for Southern California. Long Beach offers beautiful scenery, with white sandy beaches and crisp, blue water. Residents also enjoy the thriving creative scene and street art.

Sacramento

Sacramento is another city that makes our list of the best places to raise a family in California. In fact, it may even top our list, and for a good reason — it’s very affordable by California standards. California’s capital had a median home price of less than $500,000 at the end of 2021, making it significantly more affordable and attainable than many other California markets. These relatively low home prices attract numerous buyers, making the city quite a competitive market that often requires placing a cash offer on house to secure a home successfully. Here are some tips for winning a bidding war in Sacramento.

And while Sacramento isn’t located on the beach, there’s no shortage of natural beauty. Sacramento offers its residents easy access to all that Northern California has to offer, including some of the best hiking around. After your hike, cool down at one of the many local restaurants or breweries and enjoy the packed calendar of local live music.

The Bottom Line

If you’re considering moving to California to raise a family or you’re looking for a new home, our local real estate agents would be thrilled to help you on your journey. Most Californians looking for a new house also have an old home to sell. However, the traditional real estate model is designed to benefit lenders and Realtors — not homeowners. That’s where we come in.

Reali has unlocked a smarter, less stressful path to selling and buying a home at the same time. With Reali Buy Before You Sell, you can buy first and sell later, allowing you to skip multiple moves and mortgage contingencies. Reali also helps you navigate a competitive sellers’ market, by making a cash offer on house on your behalf.

As of this year, about one-third of homes in California are purchased with cash. But if you don’t have briefcases full of money lying around, don’t worry — Reali’s Cash Offer helps everyday buyers become all-cash buyers.

With the Reali Cash Offer, we’ll front you the cash to place an all-cash offer on the home you want. Using our cash allows you to cut to the front of the line. No appraisals and no major contingencies mean a simple, faster transaction.

To learn more about Reali’s power buyer programs, contact us today. We look forward to working together!