They didn’t know that until 2019, when they met in Phoenix and discovered they had a mutual childhood friend — someone who later told them she should have fixed them up a long time ago. The Depontes married in 2023.
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“We always talked about moving back to California to live close to our parents and siblings,” said Ms. Deponte, 33, a physician assistant and teacher. “But when our son Graham was born, we knew it takes a village to raise a child, and that motivated us even more.”
Ms. Deponte’s parents, who still live in Claremont, offered to contribute as much as $125,000 toward the down payment on a house. “Many of my friends also need help from their parents,” she said. “We are so grateful because without their help we wouldn’t have been able to buy.” She loved growing up in Claremont, a charming town known for its seven affiliated colleges and historic village with shops and restaurants downtown.
“Katie teaches in Claremont and works as a PA in a clinic, and I have been able to transfer locations to California with my company,” says Mr. Deponte, 35, a sales account manager for fitness center design and equipment. “Now my sister moved here too, from Huntington Beach, and we have a lot of family in the area.”
“You can’t buy a house just because it’s nice,” Ms. Dandoy said. “You have to think about the bones of the house and the school district to understand what affects long-term value.”
The Depontes wanted a home with at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and some outdoor space for gardening and to accommodate their growing family and their dog Zoë. Their $800,000 budget would be tight for that type of home in the area; the average sales price in Claremont was $1.18 million in September, according to Ms. Dandoy.
“There wasn’t much to see in their price range, so we looked at nearby cities to see if they could find a better match that wasn’t too far away,” she said.
Those cities included Rancho Cucamonga, a few miles east of San Bernardino County, where the average list price in September was $914,201; and smaller Upland, sandwiched between Rancho Cucamonga and Claremont, where the average list price was $910,970. But the preference remained Claremont.
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