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Thank you everyone for your replies!
To solve the mystery as to my profession, I am an elementary school teacher. So, it is more than likely that I will not have to make a far commute for work. However, I am concerned about finding a teaching position in Temecula. Any advice about that would be appreciated as well. My boyfriend is an attorney, so he might have to make that commute that everyone mentioned.
We will be traveling to CA this April to drive the coast from LA to SF and will go out of our way to check out Temecula.
Things are in the very early stages of planning this possible move. We want to buy a house and raise a family some day and Queens, NY is just NOT the place to do that.
I read, on here i think, that Harveston Lake is the "primo" spot in Temecula to live, is that true?
We want a house with a bit of a yard (coming from Queens 100 x 100 is HUGE to us), 3+ bedrooms, 2+ baths, something built after 1993, and more than 2,000 sq. ft. As I did my research, Temecula started to seem like a "no-brainer", BUT, like I mentioned, distrusting New Yorker here, I figured I would ask around.
CarawayDJ - Thank you very much for all of your insight and the time you took time carefully answer my questions.
OK, with this info in hand I think it's fairly safe to say that you may not need to commute that far, if at all. School districts have been laying off all over the US though, so there is the possibility a vacancy will be more than a town over. What I will say about Temecula is that it has a very good school system. It's a major reason why home prices in Temecula tend to be higher than any of our neighboring Inland Empire towns. I can drive up the highway 5 minutes to Murrieta and find cheaper homes. Temecula also seems to have a lot of nice private schools. I really can't recall seeing such large private schools in any other city this size. It's as if Temecula is a private school hub of some kind.
As for your husband, there are certainly law offices all over the area. I don't know what he specializes in so I have no idea how niche his specialty is. Niche is usually equal to commute. Keep in mind that there are many population centers between Temecula and LA, or Temecula and San Diego. The odds are good that you will not need to go the full distance.
Temecula is a great family town. It's why most of us live here. To find an equivalent family town with an equivalent school system you'd usually pay a lot more. I could have afforded to live closer to the coast and to San Diego, but I would have been in a smaller home and/or an area not as family friendly as Temecula. It's hard to explain. When my wife took my son to parks in San Diego she would seldom meet other mothers. In Temecula she practically cannot visit a park without meeting someone new. Harveston is nice, but some people don't like the newer subdivisions. Some do, and some don't. I actually like the older subdivisions. The trees and landscaping are mature, the houses a little further apart, and usually a little bigger yard. It's all a matter of what your individual tastes are. If you are into the newer subdivisions then Harveston is a good place.
CarawayDJ-
What are some of the older subdivisions named?
Harveston Lake interested me, well, because of the lake. My boyfriend likes fishing and I hope that only residents are allowed to fish in that lake, making it a shorter commute to and from and perhaps not over-crowded.
We live in Queens, NY, we literally live on top of our neighbors and have no yard of our own, so the newer subdivision that is built closer together, will probably still feel spacious and adequate (I hope!).
My boyfriend has experience in commercial litigation.
It's good to know that Temecula is family oriented, because some day that will matter to us.
Gandalara-
I have looked at EDJOIN A LOT! Thank you for the advice!
CarawayDJ-
What are some of the older subdivisions named?
Harveston Lake interested me, well, because of the lake. My boyfriend likes fishing and I hope that only residents are allowed to fish in that lake, making it a shorter commute to and from and perhaps not over-crowded.
We live in Queens, NY, we literally live on top of our neighbors and have no yard of our own, so the newer subdivision that is built closer together, will probably still feel spacious and adequate (I hope!).
My boyfriend has experience in commercial litigation.
It's good to know that Temecula is family oriented, because some day that will matter to us.
Gandalara-
I have looked at EDJOIN A LOT! Thank you for the advice!
I don't know the names of some of the older subdivisions. That probably sounds weird, but most of them have no signs at the entries and no HOA fees. An example of where I'm talking about would be the streets off of Calle Medusa. If you live on top of people now then you will probably have no problem with the newer subdivisions. The newer subdivisions also have more in the way of community recreation. A community pool will look good in July. I'm not sure I would consider the lake at Harveston a fishing lake for the average adult fisherman. Ditto for the Temecula duck pond. I've seen people fishing there, but mostly parents showing their kids how to fish. I wouldn't dare eat any of the bait fish you would pull out of Harveston. I think you even have to release the fish. He'd be better off going to Lake Skinner. I love to fish myself. That's part of the reason I'll be moving up to NoCal or Seattle. I want to grab my fishing rod and drive to a river where I can pull out a salmon that will feed me for a week. SoCal has some decent ocean fishing, but the lake and stream fishing is a joke...except maybe to someone who grew up here and doesn't know anything different. Big Bear Lake might be the closest thing in SoCal to what lake fishing is like up north.
Commercial litigation isn't that niche, so I'd be surprised if both you and your boyfriend cannot find something somewhere between Temecula and San Diego or LA. I doubt you'll have to make the full commute to those cities. Like I alluded to before, it's not as if there is nothing but desert between Temecula and our famous SoCal cities. In fact, if you drive to San Diego you are in nonstop suburban sprawl about 30 minutes into the drive. Ditto for LA.
I have shopped all over California, and there is no better value than Temecula, CA.
I am closing next week on a 3br 2.5ba house with a large yard, incredible pool and spa, built recently in 2002. Cost is in the $250s, and I couldn't be happier. This house sold for $500k a few years ago, so I consider this a real bargain. Five or ten years from now everyone will be saying "Wow, that was the time to buy." Temecula is a 50 minute drive from San Diego and Orange County, which isn't bad at all. Sure I wish I could have a $2 million house on the beach, but we must be realistic people. I'd much rather have a nice house with a yard in a great neighborhood, rather than a 2br apartment in Orange County, or similar house in disgusting & unsafe National City (which is just a few miles from Tijauna, Mexico.) Furthermore, Temecula school districts are very, very good. And lets not forget, Temecula is wine country, which means perfect weather year-round. Lastly, since 1900 real estate has always gone up except for 1929 and 2008. Now is the time to buy real estate; I am pounding the table on this one! Oh, one more nice little extra. I could choose to rent out my new house and, after all costs, (mortgage, property taxes, insurance) I would be collecting +$200 more than my total payments, which means Positive Cash Flow. How can you beat that? Thats why I say Temecula is the best investment out there.
I have shopped all over California, and there is no better value than Temecula, CA.
I am closing next week on a 3br 2.5ba house with a large yard, incredible pool and spa, built recently in 2002. Cost is in the $250s, and I couldn't be happier. This house sold for $500k a few years ago, so I consider this a real bargain. Five or ten years from now everyone will be saying "Wow, that was the time to buy." Temecula is a 50 minute drive from San Diego and Orange County, which isn't bad at all. Sure I wish I could have a $2 million house on the beach, but we must be realistic people. I'd much rather have a nice house with a yard in a great neighborhood, rather than a 2br apartment in Orange County, or similar house in disgusting & unsafe National City (which is just a few miles from Tijauna, Mexico.) Furthermore, Temecula school districts are very, very good. And lets not forget, Temecula is wine country, which means perfect weather year-round. Lastly, since 1900 real estate has always gone up except for 1929 and 2008. Now is the time to buy real estate; I am pounding the table on this one! Oh, one more nice little extra. I could choose to rent out my new house and, after all costs, (mortgage, property taxes, insurance) I would be collecting +$200 more than my total payments, which means Positive Cash Flow. How can you beat that? Thats why I say Temecula is the best investment out there.
As you can tell from my posts above, I'm also a fan of Temecula. It is absolutely one of the best inland cities in SoCal anywhere near this price range. However, if you believe it has perfect weather year round you must be a glutton for punishment. Summers can get quite hot here. There are many heat waves where it gets above 100, usually about 104-106. It even got to 109 last August. It's not like every summer day is this hot, but it does happen enough. Maybe you find that perfect weather?
All that said, I'd rather be in 104 degree heat in Temecula than 94 degree heat in Orlando, FL where I once lived. At least here you aren't soaking wet from sweat after 10 minutes outside.
Thank you William5858 for reassuring me about Temecula's housing. I watched a video for Harveston and I think the homes there are adorable and I can't wait to see it in person when I visit in April. If you don't mind me asking, in what part of Temecula did you buy your home?
I know the weather might not be perfect in Temecula, but one thing is for sure...NO SNOW!! The thing about snow is that it's only pretty when it's falling. Once it's on the ground for awhile, it gets BLACK and riddled with garbage. It's truly disgusting. NYC is a dump. I have lived here my whole life (30 years) and although it has probably made me a more street-smart person than the average American, I want more for my kids (when I have them). Harveston's community sounds ideal to me. Some community pride would be nice for a change. Also, I have lived in an apartment my whole life and really want a house with a driveway and not have to be cut-throat about a parking space close to my front door. A house here (that would not be as big) in a good neighborhood (meaning schools) would run you about $700,000 and WAY up. It's a joke really. NYC's real estate market did not take a hit like the rest of the country did, that's for sure.
The other place that we were at first interested in moving to was Scottsdale, AZ (mostly b/c my boyfriend's sister lives there now). We have visited several times this past year and it's really nice there. Of course, we have never visited in the summer! I thought about it and I would rather move somewhere that I can be outside year-round. To me, it seems as though Temecula has the same housing situation as Scottsdale, in that the homes are relatively new and they are not ridiculously expensive per square footage. Also, I bet Temecula's housing market will bounce back better and faster than Scottsdale's. So, 104 for even 10 days out of the summer months wouldn't be so bad in comparison to AZ's 104 days for 3 full months!
CarawayDJ - FL has brutally oppressive humidity!! We went to Disney May 2010 and we were dripping wet the whole day, all day! Disgusting. Once the sun went down, it was more bearable! FL is NOT for me.
Cutiepie, wherever you do end up out here in the West, remember this: We know the pizza doesn't taste like it does back home. All the transplanted NYCers who came before you have told us that ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
Other than that, if you move out here to the IE, welcome to you and enjoy the bone-dry summer weather.
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