Vintage Reserve Community in Murrieta (San Diego, Oceanside: for sale, HOA, mortgage)

[Lucas'smommy]

Hi! Can anyone give me some info on the Vintage Reserve Community in Murrieta? Is it a good community to live in? Is it children friendly? My husband and I saw a house there yesterday and are considering putting an offer in but want to know about the community and make sure we are making the right decision. We had previously decided on Temecula but our price range ($389k) is limiting the size of the house we can afford there. Vintage Reserve seemed like a nice community but I was hoping someone who knows the area could give me more info.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Goin' Coastal]

Hi! I hope you get some helpful feedback from residents of that specific community. As a Murrieta resident who has visited a friend in that neighborhood, I can say liked what I saw there and the surrounding area.

You will be close to Harveston, which has a nice lake to walk around. When I've walked there, I've seen lots of moms and kids walking around, and they also hang out in a good-sized playground for the kids. You're also very close to lots of the good shopping in the area.

[Lucas'smommy]

Originally Posted by Goin' Coastal

Hi! I hope you get some helpful feedback from residents of that specific community. As a Murrieta resident who has visited a friend in that neighborhood, I can say liked what I saw there and the surrounding area.

You will be close to Harveston, which has a nice lake to walk around. When I've walked there, I've seen lots of moms and kids walking around, and they also hang out in a good-sized playground for the kids. You're also very close to lots of the good shopping in the area.

Thanks! We were only there for about 30 minutes but we liked what we saw too! We currently live in Oceanside so we won't be able to go back to that area til next weekend but need to submit an offer by this week. There is no HOA in that neighborhood and I've never lived in a place with no HOA and am a little concerned that our neighbors won't keep their front yards nice and there is no HOA to tell them to do so. Also, there is no pool but I'm not sure how much we would go to the pool anyways.

[Goin' Coastal]

We drove down from the SF Bay Area three times to check out our new neighborhood before offering and closing escrow, so I understand your concerns about only a half-hour visit.

Could you use Google to check out more street views of the development? That might give you more insight to the area as a whole.

I am a little surprised at your having to submit an offer by this week. I've been watching housing inventory in Murrieta for nearly a year, and I don't see houses flying off the shelf around here. You must have found a really special house. However, I am sure you'll find just the right house for you and your family if for some reason this one doesn't work out.

We actually preferred a neighborhood with no HOAs. We have never had one and didn't like the idea of one. Our new neighborhood passed the visual test when we first visited, and that good first impression was sustained on subsequent visits, and continues today.

We looked at a whole lot of houses in a whole lot of areas before we found our new place in Murrieta.

Good luck with your search!

[Lucas'smommy]

Originally Posted by Goin' Coastal

I am a little surprised at your having to submit an offer by this week. I've been watching housing inventory in Murrieta for nearly a year, and I don't see houses flying off the shelf around here. You must have found a really special house. However, I am sure you'll find just the right house for you and your family if for some reason this one doesn't work out.

We actually preferred a neighborhood with no HOAs. We have never had one and didn't like the idea of one. Our new neighborhood passed the visual test when we first visited, and that good first impression was sustained on subsequent visits, and continues today. h!

We made an offer over asking price on a house in Temeku Hills in Temecula and someone else outbid us so we are worried that will happen again and don't want to wait too long to put an offer in.

It's nice to know you live in a neighborhood with no HOA and love it! I just did the Google view you suggested and it does look nice. Thanks for the advice!

[cfa-ish]

Even without an HOA, it might have CC&Rs that force residents to keep up the lawn etc.
CC&R Basics - FindLaw

[Lucas'smommy]

Originally Posted by cfa-ish

Even without an HOA, it might have CC&Rs that force residents to keep up the lawn etc.
CC&R Basics - FindLaw

Oh that is great!! I read the link you sent me which was very reassuring but then read that it's almost impossible to enforce CC&Rs with no HOA and that you actually have to take your neighbor to court. Either way I''ll be happy if we have some type of restrictions to make sure everyone keeps up their part. Thanks so much for the info!

[Goin' Coastal]

Lucas's Mommy, I don't know whether you are on Facebook, but if you are, you could
join the group Temecula Talk and ask for information there. As a new resident of the area,
I have found the group quite informative in many ways.

Good luck with your offer and welcome to Murrieta/Temecula!

[Tool Shed]

It's not a bad area. Great location, very convenient, and very close to shopping/dinning/medical/freeway access in both Temecula and Murrieta. Schools are pretty good there from what I hear. Also should be considered safe. My only observable gripe is that the houses are large and on some streets can be crammed together pretty close. I noticed some areas have a lot of cars parked/stored on the streets. A few of the homes could show a bit more pride of ownership / better front landscaping as well. That being said many housing tracts will have the occasional parking lot/weeds in lawn syndrome. This might not be a factor for you but I figured I'd mention it.

[Captjob]

The market is definitely changing right now and becoming very active again. The market cooled significantly last summer as far as buyers are concerned and homes began to sit on the market for a longer period of time. There are currenty 399 homes for sale in Temecula at all price ranges and 400 homes for sale in Murrieta. This may seem like a lot; however, both cities had more than 650-700 homes for sale each in just December.

I held an open house on one of my listings on Sunday and had over 20 couples stop by all looking to purchase in the area. I haven't had an open house that busy since last spring. The best of the homes are now getting multiple offers again. The not so good homes are still stale. The low interest rates and reduction in the FHA mortgage premium has been driving the surge in buyers the last 2 weeks. New appraisal regulations went into effect todday that will also be challenging contract values so this needs to be watched.

In the Southern California region in the last 24 hours, data shows the following;

585 Homes newly listed for sale.

771 Homes entered back-up or pending sale status.
294 Homes closed escrow today.
203 Homes fell out of escrow today.
373 Homes reduced their selling price today.

Hopefully you have a buyers agent that is intimately familiar with the area and market. He/She should be a great source of information to you. The Facebook communities, as one poster already suggested, Temecula Talk and Murrieta Talk are also great resources for local information.

Both Murrieta and Temecula are wonderful communities to move and raise a family. Thousands of people from both Orange and San Diego county have relocated here because of the great schools, community and lower cost of housing etc.

I came here from San Marcos in 1992. Love this community!

Good Luck!