Tell me about Harveston in Temecula (San Diego, Riverside: real estate, foreclosure, renting)

[connie&dave]

We are looking to move to Temecula next summer and we are very interested in the Harveston development. Can anyone share what they know about it including taxes, neighbors, etc. Thanks for your input

[ian in socal]

Harveston is a great master planned community that is very family centered, and also centered around their little lake! Some neighborhoods are small homes that are crammed together, and some are larger homes, just depends on what you're wanting to spend. Taxes are about 1.9% and HOA dues run around $200/mo. just depends what neighborhood you choose. here's the link to the web site: Harveston Master Planned Community - New homes and Townhomes in Temecula, Riverside County (http://www.harveston.com/index_flash.php - broken link).

My wife works at the lake house and they just had a big holiday party with a visit from santa, and a few months ago they had a get together that had a petting zoo, crafts and games, and other neat things to do.

I'd be more than happy to help with any questions or additional research you need! Just shoot me a PM!

[Kellypink]

I have been yearning to move to Temecula, Ca (possibly Murrieta). I have been concentrating on the Harveston Communities in Temecula. It sounds like it's got everything from walking trails to spray parks. I love that! I have 3 small children so I really like that Community atmosphere.
But tell me,
IS the community pool overcrowded in the Summer?
what are the property tax rates in this Community?
What are your monthly home owners association dues?
Also, I would like to know if there are any Mommy and me classes near by.
and Library reading hour for young children?

If you live here, do you just love it?
Is it mostly young families or retirees?
What about the schools for this community, how would you rate them?

Thank you so much!

[tsullivan97]

Kellypink -

We lived in Harveston for 3 years and loved it. We recently were forced to relocate to Austin, TX, but miss Temecula (and Harveston in particular) very much. One word of advice: If I were to buy in Harveston, I would NOT buy a in the new home section that is north of Date. This is much too far from the trail, the school, and the pool. Kind of defeats the whole purpose, in my opinion.

Also, if you buy a resell in the built out section that is on the southern most end of Harveston, you can even walk to the mall, Winco, Trader Joe's and Starbucks.

Moderator cut: advertising your house in the state forums is not allowed, try the classified section of the site

[bluestocking]

Originally Posted by Kellypink

I have been yearning to move to Temecula, Ca (possibly Murrieta). I have been concentrating on the Harveston Communities in Temecula. It sounds like it's got everything from walking trails to spray parks. I love that! I have 3 small children so I really like that Community atmosphere.
But tell me,
IS the community pool overcrowded in the Summer?
what are the property tax rates in this Community?
What are your monthly home owners association dues?
Also, I would like to know if there are any Mommy and me classes near by.
and Library reading hour for young children?

If you live here, do you just love it?
Is it mostly young families or retirees?
What about the schools for this community, how would you rate them?

Thank you so much!

Kellypink:

I will try to answer a few of your questions. . . we are currently renting in Harveston and have been pleased with living here.

Have not found the pool to be overcrowded in summer, but it does see a lot of traffic sometimes.

The property tax rates are very high: 1.9%.
HOA fees are around $116 a month or so (but don't quote me on that!) and for the townhomes, there is an additional $146 or so.

The community center here hosts activities for moms and children, but my kids are older so I haven't participated. I do see a moms group that walks around the lake with children in strollers. I think there are a few moms groups listing on that meetup website for the Temecula area. There is a library very close to Harveston, and they do have a story hour, plus other regular classes for kids. (crafts, holiday themed activities, etc.)

The neighborhood seems to have a nice blend of families and some retirees. We have been very happy with the schools, but you can do specific research on school rating data elsewhere on the internet.

I very much agree with the other poster about living south of Date street in order to take advantage of the amenities of the neighborhood. I would also very much recommend renting here first. We have been tracking the housing market closely in the last year, and it has fallen quite a bit and may stand to fall quite a bit more.

I don't know what your family's employment situation is like nor do I know if you are familiar with this area, but traffic on the 15 is pretty bad at times and commuting could be a major headache. We are moving out of the area this summer so my husband can avoid the commute.

I would be happy to answer any other questions you might have. . . although I certainly don't have all the answers!

[Kellypink]

You have certainly answered most of my questions and it still sounds appealing....
I have heard of the traffic troubles Temecula has. My husband is in the Car business and I see there are a lot of Dealerships close by. I would hope he could find work there.
I am not too worried about the market as I have been looking at well below market foreclosure homes in the area.

Thank you so much for the info.

1.9%
though YEEK!

[bluestocking]

I think you will like it here. . . if we were going to stay in Temecula, I wouldn't want to live in any other neighborhood!

[oldhousegirl]

Hi to everyone!! Quick question. Everyone seems to like this community but have you noticed lots of vacancies?? Whenever I check the real estate sites for houses Harveston seems to keep turning up. House after house is listed as lender owned, or in distress. It made me wonder was Harveston a targeted funny mortgage/lender subdivision. Thanks.

[twinmum]

Originally Posted by Kellypink

You have certainly answered most of my questions and it still sounds appealing....
I have heard of the traffic troubles Temecula has. My husband is in the Car business and I see there are a lot of Dealerships close by. I would hope he could find work there.
I am not too worried about the market as I have been looking at well below market foreclosure homes in the area.

Thank you so much for the info.

1.9%
though YEEK!

We rented here first for 2.5 years and just bought our "dream Home" (for Temecula) last summer. Harveston is the ONLY place in Temecula/Murrieta that we would live unless we had $900k + to spend on a home.

The other posters were correct in that the HOA dues vary based on development. I live in the original tract which consisted of three neighborhoods - the smallest lake front cottages, the middle sized homes (i forgot the tract name) that surround those and then the largest homes on the opposite side of the Harveston loop (Sherbourne - thats where we are lucky to have one of the few 1-story homes) we enjoy way larger lots than the previously mentioned homes do. Then there are at least 5 developments that happened after the first I spoke of which I know for certain at least one has way higher HOA as we almost bought new there.

At any rate from experience I can say that our HOA is $116.50 a month. To debunk another myth we paid 1.42908% in taxes on our home, exactly.

As a side note - building is supposed to begin soon on a brand new Mercedes dealership off Ynez and Date. A water park is to follow sometime in the future as well.

As far as the pool, I have never had a problem with it being too crowded and my kids and I have spent A LOT of time there in the past 3.5 years. We have even had it all to ourselves on numeous occasions, it just depends on when you go. If you have younger than school aged children it is especially nice to go when the weather is still warm but the bigger kids are in school!

Harveston has August concerts in the park that the city of Temecula hosts as well as movies in the summer. Temecula itself has a lot to offer in the way of recreation for kids and the schools are good.

I cannot imagine living in any other neighborhood - they are just too ordinary for me. As a side note we are in the process of deciding on a relocation ourselves (the reason why I stopped by city-data to begin with) but we are heading to the right coast. If we do decide to go will miss my kids school and this neighborhood as well as the proximity to Disneyland, Sea World and the world famous San Diego zoo!

[connie&dave]

Thanks to everyone that replied

I am confused about the taxes though, why would they vary in the same neighborhood?