The Broadmoor area of Daly City in the 94015 ZIP code that borders the region that I erroneously consider the skyline area. According to Trulia it is actually Westlake neighborhood.

Broadmoor is East of Skyline Highway 35. from John Daly Blvd heading South to Westmoor Road. The houses I’ve seen in the area are generally nice with good spacing between buildings and nice lawns. I get the impression that this is a middle class neighborhood. More affluent homeowners than the 94014 ZIP.

Fog can be heavy in this area. I know because my apartment window faces this neighborhood. If there is ever fog, it’s generally thick over this area and the Skyline/Westlake area. * Westlake Shopping center* is a huge mall/strip mall with lots of stores.

You could potentiall walk to BART from this neighborhood but it is long because you have to walk over the 280. You face a series of long lights and lots of traffic. BART is also uphill. it is probably close to 10-15 minutes to walk. if you look at closes farther West then the distance becomes more formidable because the walk is down then back up to AND from BART.

Key businesses in Broadmoor / Westlake:

• Joe’s of Westlake (restaurant)
• Boulevard Cafe (restaurant)
• Home Depot
• TJ Maxx

• Trader Joe’s

For months I have been trying to figure out how to calculate a good estimate for the monthly payments necessary to own a house. The basic costs would be mortgage, taxes and insurance. It is often difficult to get a good answer on how much the total cost will be.

With some help from my mortgage broker cousin, I whipped up an Excel file that has the formula calculated. I wish I knew how to use Excel more efficiently but here it is. For my own reference.

Assumptions:

• Monthly taxes + insurance is approximately 1.5% of purchase price of a home

• 30 year fixed rate mortgage

Method:

• use the PMT() function in Excel
• current interest rate is about 6% or 7% on a 30 year fixed mortgage
• the fill-ins I use for the formula are as follows:
  • 6%/12 to indicate 6% interest payed monthly (12 months)
  • 360 total monthly payments (30 years * 12 months/yr)
  • Principal amount = Home cost * (1 – %down payment)
  • take that value and subtract (home cost * 1.5%) for taxes + insurance.

• optionally subtract $X for HOA dues if you buy a condo.