Elk Grove vs Folsom?

[Rahul Samskruthyayan]

Hi BP,

I joined recently and this place is so helpful. I’m a newbie to real estate investing and currently living in Fremont,CA. Because of COVID, I’m working from home for the past year, and most possibly I would be doing the same this year as well. My intention is to move to the new house and stay there until COVID ends while renting out Fremont property, and return back to Fremont property by renting out the new property. So I decided to look out the outskirts of the Bay Area and started exploring Tracy, Brentwood, etc. Recently I came to know Elk Grove and visited a few weeks back and felt that it has good proximity to commuting to the Bay Area because of ACE expansion and future High-speed rail project. Eventually, I started exploring Folsom because of the school district and visited the Folsom ranch and neighborhood. Even though I liked Folsom, price and distance (to Bay Area) are pulling me back.

Can you pls advise which location to choose considering renting proximity and commute (1-2 times/week) to BA?

[Joe Bertolino]

Originally posted by @Rahul Samskruthyayan:

Is Folsom considered as a place for having a stopover for Lake Tahoe ?

 Yes,   Folsom and El Dorado Hills are common stops on the way to Tahoe.  I am biased as I live in the area but Folsom is much nicer than Elk Grove.  Both have nice older downtowns and newer tract homes but the schools and food options in Folsom are better along with access to Folsom Lake and The American River bike trail.  Crime is much lower.   Elk Grove connects to South Sac and some of the crime spills over.  It is not dangerous by any means but there is significantly more action there than in Folsom.  Folsom was the 8th safest city in California out of 228 cities ranked in 2019.