CA
Fremont neighborhoods: five towns that became one city
Five towns that became one city in 1956, and they still price like five towns. Which Fremont you mean is the real question.
Living in Fremont
People say Fremont as though it is one place. It is five. On 23 January 1956, Mission San Jose, Centerville, Niles, Irvington and Warm Springs stopped being separate towns and became a single city, and seventy years later they still read as five separate towns to anyone who lives there.
That matters to you because the five do not price the same, do not commute the same, and do not feel the same. A buyer who says they want Fremont has not narrowed anything down yet.
I'm Chaitali (CeCe) Cherian of KeysWithCeCe, a REALTOR® with eXp Realty and a licensed loan officer, and Fremont is one of the towns I work.
What I bring to a Fremont search is the money side. I can be your agent and your loan officer on the same purchase, so your budget and your offer are built by one person. When I act in both roles I tell you in writing, and you are always free to use a different lender. Every loan is subject to underwriting approval. NMLS #2590353.
Which Fremont do you actually mean?
Working out which of the five fits you is most of the job, and it is worth doing before you tour anything, because they pull in different directions.
Mission San Jose is the oldest part of the city. The mission itself was founded in 1797, and the housing around that end reflects a much longer history than the rest of Fremont.
Niles has a history almost nobody expects. It was one of the earliest homes of the California film industry in the 1910s, and Charlie Chaplin filmed there, including The Tramp. It still reads as a small separate town inside the city.
Warm Springs is the end of Fremont that has changed most recently, because the Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station opened there in 2017 and building followed it.
Centerville and Irvington sit between them, each with its own center rather than being suburbs of one downtown.
My job on a Fremont search is to stop you comparing two listings as though they are in the same market. They often are not.
What the homes are, and what your money does
Because Fremont was assembled from five towns rather than built outward from one center, the housing stock is not one generation. The older end sits around Mission San Jose, and the newest sits around Warm Springs where the BART station went in.
Fremont Unified School District serves the city. The practical consequence of the five-town history is that the school a given address feeds into varies widely across Fremont, so the district name alone tells you very little. Which school an address is zoned for is something I confirm for you in writing before you make an offer, rather than leaving you to guess from a listing.
Condos and townhomes are a real part of the Fremont market, and they carry a layer most buyers do not know to check. An association's finances and rules can end your loan on a unit that is in perfect condition. That is covered on my condo and townhome page, and it is the kind of thing I look at before you write rather than after.
Buying your first home? Start on my first-time buyer page. Already own and moving up within Fremont or out of it? The timing of the two deals is the hard part, and it is on selling and buying at the same time.
Two BART stations, and why that changes the search
Fremont has two BART stations rather than one. The original Fremont station, and Warm Springs/South Fremont at the southern end, which opened in 2017 in what the city calls the Warm Springs Innovation District.
The city also sits between Interstate 680 and Interstate 880, and both run its full length. So Fremont genuinely works for a South Bay commute and for an up-the-East-Bay commute, which is unusual, and it is why the right part of the city depends entirely on where you are going each morning.
I am not going to quote you a commute time, because it depends on your start, your end and your hour. Drive it twice before you buy, once at the time you would really be leaving and once on a Friday.
Newark sits inside Fremont's western edge and is a separate city with its own prices, which is worth knowing when a Fremont budget runs short. Union City is north, Milpitas and San Jose south.
Buying or selling in Fremont
- Book a free session, about 30 minutes on Zoom. We work out your real budget before you narrow down which Fremont.
- Selling in Fremont? Start with what your home is worth.
- Send me a message or call (510) 610-0124. I'll reply personally.
Every step of a purchase is on how buying a home works with me. I work with clients in English, Hindi, and Bengali.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the five parts of Fremont?
Mission San Jose, Centerville, Niles, Irvington and Warm Springs. They were five separate towns until 23 January 1956, when they merged into one city, and they still read as distinct places with different housing and different commutes.
Does Fremont have BART?
Two stations. The original Fremont station, and Warm Springs/South Fremont at the southern end of the city, which opened in 2017.
Which school district serves Fremont?
Fremont Unified School District serves the city. Because Fremont was five separate towns, the school an address feeds into varies a lot across the city, so I confirm the specific schools for an address in writing before you make an offer.
Is Fremont or Newark cheaper?
Newark usually costs less than a comparable Fremont address, and it gives up having a BART station inside the city. Newark is a separate city wrapped by Fremont on three sides, so the two are often worth looking at side by side.
The method
How I do it in Fremont
Explore more of the Bay Area
Ready to make your move with KeysWithCeCe?