[Felis]

I'm renting a very nice luxury apartment in a good area of Silicon Valley (Santa Clara, CA to be exact - 95054 zip). I'm considering buying a decent two bedroom single family attached house (pretty much a duplex) with an attached garage. It's nice on the inside and seems nice on the outside. The age of the house is 26 years old, but overall it is in good condition.I like the place, but my mortgage payment is high: $2900/month including tax, PMI, and other fees. This is a 30 year fixed mortgage, so that's good. But what worries me is the rent in the same area. Rent for a similar place (in the same housing track) is $2000/month. Another issue I may have is the area. It is located in the 95133 area rather close to the worst parts of San Jose. (about a few blocks to a couple of miles - so I'm not right in the ghetto, but close to it). The immediate area itself, when standing outside the house seems okay.However, I recently found out that across the street (across a four lane expressway) there are some older houses and they have parties sometimes. I was told you can hear Mariachi music until 10pm at night, as often as once a month (but, probably 2 to 3 times a year).Right now I rent a very nice apartment on the eighth floor (top floor) for $2250/month. I love living here. I really love living here. There is no noise and there's a Safeway (grocery store) right next to me. It's fabulous. I have issues with the idea of getting tied down and paying $2900/month to live closer to the ghetto compared to $2250/month to live in a very, very decent (if not upscale) area. But, real estate in Silicon Valley has always been amongst the highest price in the country and therefore owning a house in a semi okay area (i.e. closer to the ghetto) might give me financial leverage a few years down the road (oh, 3 to 5 years). Said another way, I do feel that I may never own a house here if I don’t seize an opportunity (it’s more of a buyers market now, in 2010)I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially from folks living in Silicon Valley.Thanks.