Milpitas is "too close" to Silicon Valley, if that makes sense.

It seems the general consensus is that we're not quite at the top yet, but we're close enough that it's wise to be much more conservative in the deals we're doing.Today I saw an article about rising unemployment in the tech sector.I also saw that the September PropertyRadar report is out, showing CA sales down 4.3% and median prices down 2.4%, though it states that "home prices in the Silicon Valley corridor, consisting of San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, continue to buck statewide trends and are experiencing double digit price appreciation."

Given, they aren't in Silicon Valley... 

I agree, we here in Seattle have investors from BC coming down and the tech companies are hiring from Silicon Valley so both activities are driving up housing prices like crazy.

There are a number of factors that could force you to sell. 2006 when the floor fell out and banks stopped lending everybody tried to sell, the dot com bubble in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

I'm a newbee, living in the Silicon Valley and there is no way I can afford to buy/ invest in this area.

For some reason, I can't get the renters to switch over to electronic payments... and one of the rentals was in the heart of Silicon Valley.

No, we had lived in silicon valley for about 7 years at that point and new the better areas that we could afford to live in which was our initial motivation, while minimizing commute time, and maximizing beds/cost. 

You may or may not get employee benefits (I know W-2s who didn't when the job market slowed).When I worked in Silicon Valley, 1099 was the dream choice by many entrepreneurial-minded workers.

A bit about myself - I'm your classic Silicon Valley cliche: can't afford any investment property in the bay area but want to invest in real estate to achieve financial freedom in the long-term.