Looking to buy a house in Temecula - Thoughts? (San Diego: bank owned, for sale)

[bberg23]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are considering buying a house in Temecula anywhere from the $250,000-$300,000 range. Does this seem feasible? I've done a lot of looking online and it seems like there are a lot of homes in that range, but the majority of them are short sales or foreclosures.

Any tips you can provide on the best areas to buy, any good properties we should consider, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
-Brandon

[bhcompy]

that range should net some nice properties, just be wary of the foreclosures. many of the foreclosures ive seen have been trashed

[sassy2]

There's a ton of foreclosures in the Temecula and Murrieta area. You should be able to get a nice place for the amount you want to spend. What brings you to this area?

[dweej]

That price range is totally feasible these days. Yes, most of the properties for sale are going to be foreclosures- someone who is not in foreclosure has very little chance of selling these days so they're just not listing their homes at this time....plus, they probably owe more than market value. Bank owned or short sale are about the only options at this time. Some foreclosures are in amazing shape, and some are in terrible shape. Most won't have appliances, some won't even have knobs on the doors, but many are very worth their price. Comps are also hard to analyze- a couple months ago a 1300 sq ft fixer sold for $260K and then 2 weeks later a 2000 sq/ft gorgeous home in turn-key condition right down the street closed for $240K. I bet the buyer of house number one is kicking themselves now! I guess the moral is that the ball is in the buyer's court right now...bid low, don't worry about insulting anyone or anything, and don't fall in love with any specific property. If you can stay objective, you can get a screamin' deal. I can DM you my realtor's info if you like- she lives and works in Temecula so knows the town and other agents really well. Let me know if you're interested. Good luck!

[ConsideringLA]

Brother scored a 3900sf place, big backyard, in Grier Ranch in Murrieta for $380k. It needed modest clean up, but was less than 3 years old bankowned Lennar home.

That's under $100 per square foot.

You should be able to name your price on something very nice.

[Pirate79]

Originally Posted by bberg23

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are considering buying a house in Temecula anywhere from the $250,000-$300,000 range. Does this seem feasible? I've done a lot of looking online and it seems like there are a lot of homes in that range, but the majority of them are short sales or foreclosures.

Any tips you can provide on the best areas to buy, any good properties we should consider, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
-Brandon

I'm going to be needing the same advice. We've been living in the North Dallas area for three years. We're originally from Northern California and had enough of Texas. We will have $300,000 to $375,000 to buy and don't want to miss this window of opportunity to get us back to California. Jobs are not easy to come by for us in the Bay Area as they would be in the L.A. area or San Diego area. We would like to live in Temecula because of the beautiful homes there. We have a five and nine year old so schools are very important. In what cities can we get a big home with nice schools and be somewhat close to either L.A. or better yet San Deigo?

[ConsideringLA]

Originally Posted by Pirate79

I'm going to be needing the same advice. We've been living in the North Dallas area for three years. We're originally from Northern California and had enough of Texas. We will have $300,000 to $375,000 to buy and don't want to miss this window of opportunity to get us back to California. Jobs are not easy to come by for us in the Bay Area as they would be in the L.A. area or San Diego area. We would like to live in Temecula because of the beautiful homes there. We have a five and nine year old so schools are very important. In what cities can we get a big home with nice schools and be somewhat close to either L.A. or better yet San Deigo?

Funny, I have a friend who lives in Flower Mound who just moved there from Corona, which is about 30 miles north of Temecula.

Murrieta/Temecula are your best bets for your criteria.

In terms of something close to LA that meets your criteria, check Santa Clarita (Stevenson Ranch, Valencia, etc).

Keep in mind that these are considered exurbs, so unless you are one of the lucky few that work nearby, get used to driving.... or you can downsize your home, lower your AC bill, stop being a grass farmer, spend more time with your family (less time on the road), and live close to your job. Do you REALLY need three thousand plus square feet ?! What is the value of time spent with family ?

We have two little ones ... after doing the IE dance, you can probably guess we decided to change our path.

Good luck.

[dweej]

Originally Posted by Pirate79

I'm going to be needing the same advice. We've been living in the North Dallas area for three years. We're originally from Northern California and had enough of Texas. We will have $300,000 to $375,000 to buy and don't want to miss this window of opportunity to get us back to California. Jobs are not easy to come by for us in the Bay Area as they would be in the L.A. area or San Diego area. We would like to live in Temecula because of the beautiful homes there. We have a five and nine year old so schools are very important. In what cities can we get a big home with nice schools and be somewhat close to either L.A. or better yet San Deigo?

Temecula is great if you want to get close to San Diego, but with that budget, why not do what ConsideringLA suggests and live closer to the coast? We love Temecula, but our budget is quite a bit lower than that. Maybe go with a smaller 3 bedroom home, minimize your commute, and live in Carlsbad? Great schools, beautiful, fabulous weather, easy jaunt into the city, and a guarantee of property appreciation because of proximity to the coast. The IE is quite similar to Texas in terms of weather (except with less rain), and it's more conservative than coastal communities (in general!) so you might not be able to escape that Texas feeling if you stop here. It's part of why I love it here, but might be part of why you wouldn't .

[tkdmom]

Originally Posted by ConsideringLA

Brother scored a 3900sf place, big backyard, in Grier Ranch in Murrieta for $380k. It needed modest clean up, but was less than 3 years old bankowned Lennar home.

That's under $100 per square foot.

You should be able to name your price on something very nice.

I have a dear friend who just bought a house in Greer Ranch. She paid $395k, for a 3,800 sf, upgraded beautiful home. It's a gated community, with nice amenities, but heafty assoc. fees.

[ConsideringLA]

I think the assoc fees are $200 or less. But you get a pool...