Currently live in NYC and totally sick of the snow. Does anyone have any thoughts on where the most affordable regions would be? Would probably look to work in Silicon Valley.

Are you looking to rent or buy? Affordable is a relative term. Naming your budget would help. Easy Bay, north of Oakland, South of San Jose...these areas are "relatively cheap" compare to SV or SF.

I would be looking to buy but for minimum cost. How is South SF or San Mateo?

http://www.paragon-re.com/What_Costs...n_the_Bay_Area

Wow, thank you. That is very helpful.

Note that the "all" figure, i.e. for Oakland or San Jose can be deceiving. The $150K condo that is full of bullet holes (or will become so) where kids are accidentally killed by stray bullets is part of the same formula that reaches the median, as is the $1M+ luxury condo that is like living in a W Hotel near Jack London Square.

Note a couple of cost points that you might not have considered.
(1) Your property taxes become essentially fixed when you buy in CA (subject to 2% annual increases). So, even if your value doubles, your taxes are fixed as long as you own the property.
(2) If you live near the bay or ocean (without hills between you and the water) you probably will not have nor need A/C. Most homes don't have A/C. For the few nights a year where it doesn't cool off, I have a portable room A/C on wheels. You will save a bundle of $ on heating and cooling costs.

Other things to consider, depending on where you live you may need a car. But a car may also be a huge pain and expense. Or you may pay more in rent, but not need a car. I have lived in the city for 5 years now, but I am going on 3x months without a car. Until you don't have one, you might not realize how much the damn things cost. In my 2.5 months I have wished for a car once, and tha was when I went to silicone valley.

This is a very important point, as the weather can vary dramatically between two locations relatively close to each other. The weather people refer to this as microclimates, and they are much more dramatic than any other place I have lived. It is primarily the result of two factors - the cold water (and air) of the Pacific Ocean (much colder than the Atlantic) and the proximity of the mountains to the ocean. In the summer there can often be a 20-30 degree difference in places within 10 miles of each other and in the winter the amount of rain can vary 5-10 fold over a similar distance.

You either need to study this in detail or get a good real estate agent or local resident to let you know the exact weather for any place you are planning on living.

The bad news is that you're in renting/buying competition with a lot of wealthy people who work in the Silicon Valley. I would wait to see exactly where you're going to work before thinking about where to live. If it's one of the big companies, you might base your choice of residence in part on the buses they provide.

Is it possible in this region to put a 3.5% down payment on a new property, and build the remainder into a mortgage?

If you're sick of the snow, wait until you're sick of not having a Summer. South SF will be cold and foggy most of the year, except perhaps the Winter and a few days on the shoulders of the winter. San Mateo will be better, but you'll need to go further South into SV to get a reliable Summer. Forget any chance of Summer in SF, unless you can find a place in the Mission, and even then it's not reliable.

Of course, for some, the snow is worse than not having a Summer. I'm going on my second winter in Chicago after 15 years in SF (working in SV, living in SF), and this is definitely a trade-up in terms of weather, but we'll see how I feel about it after a few more years.

I'm only a lifelong bay area renter as I'm not one of those SW devs making six figures so my opinion may mean nothing.

But I think most folks say rent for a while first to find if you like the city/neighborhood before dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars on a place.

You might not even like the area despite the temperate weather. Every year, my company has a few folks transfer from back east to here and vice versa. Even SF vs LA, 1-2 always transferred back as they couldn't take the different lifestyle (or being so far from family).

I have friends/family who've been trying to buy a house in the bay area. If you only have enough for 3.5% - like for a FHA loan? - You'll be stuck with only FHA-approved condos/houses with that loan.

I think most banks require at least 5-20% down nowadays after the mortgage loan scandals. If you get a bank loan with a very low down payment, you're competing with people with at least 20% down (and in SF - foreigners or dotcom millionaires with all cash offers). Also less than 20% means you're paying PMI, so that's even more money you'll end up spending.

I saw a similar topic on bogleheads (investment board) that had some discussion about buying in the bay area that may be useful.

Absolutely get a job first, then figure out where to live. Traffic if by car, (private) bus routes or transit is going to rule where you want to live.

Also- if you are just trying to escape snow- don't limit yourself to SV. There's tech jobs up and down the coast, from San Diego to Seattle.

True, but ♫ It only takes a tiny corner of
this great big world to make a place you love
My home up on the hill
I find I love you still
I've been away but now I'm back to tell you ... ♫♫

I get that, but the OP is asking about affordable places to live and SFO in the same breath! :-)