Temecula for retirees? (San Diego, Murrieta, Palm Springs: 2014, low crime, house)

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by Danalysd

Not sure I agree with USDefault on all the above points so here is my POV. You dont run your AC for months at a time. We run ours a few weeks a year. There is a coastal influence that you feel every afternoon when it cools off from the ocean breeze that blows through the Rainbow gap. It will hit 100 for a few weeks in the summer but normally its in the 90's for a couple hours during the day and then cools off to lows in the 60's most evenings. Get a whole house fan and you dont need to run AC at night. The hot days and cools nights are the reason it is good wine growing area.

Temecula is good and has plenty to offer for even retired people. Wineries, Casino, Old town, Mountains are about 1.5 hour drive. The desert is an hour. San Diego is an hour during non rush hour times. Not sure why you would need to be in SD at 8 or 9am if you are retired so you can plan around it. When you live here you learn when to drive and when not to. The traffic in Temecula does suck at certain times of day but if you are retired you can likely plan around it. Oceanside beach/pier is an hour drive or less. Temecula has plenty of Horses and ranches.

I dont think the Casino is a detriment, we go a few times a year for a comedian or a concert. Your life wont be Temecula period, as stated above if you can plan around traffic and dont mind an hour drive. If you are looking for a great Central location, Temecula would be good. That being said, If I was retired would I live in Temecula? I am not sure. Lived in Temecula for 8 years now

If a person wanted a very nice, 2,700 sq. ft.+ house with a lovely backyard but without Mello-Roos or special assessments for schools or law enforcement in Temecula or Murrieta where would you suggest?

Price range $650,000 to $750,000

[stautxie]

There are few a few communities build in late 90s or early 00s with little Mello-Roos and decent size backyard. For example, the Temeku Hills community sits on a golf course and has a very nice community center with swimming pool, basket ball courts, etc. HOA is like $100/mo. As of recently, a 2,700 sqft house is selling between $450 to $500K.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by stautxie

There are few a few communities build in late 90s or early 00s with little Mello-Roos and decent size backyard. For example, the Temeku Hills community sits on a golf course and has a very nice community center with swimming pool, basket ball courts, etc. HOA is like $100/mo. As of recently, a 2,700 sqft house is selling between $450 to $500K.

Thank you for your response. I took a look online, and we would prefer a house which is more upmarket than those I saw. Since we can sell this house in the SFBayArea for at least $725,000 and transfer our tax base, we want to buy as much as we can afford in order to do that. We would be giving up so many amenities to leave the SF Bay Area that we would only consider moving for a significantly nicer house and neighborhood. We strongly prefer communities that have no two-story homes, if possible, or have homes which are primarily single story with perhaps a storage or game room upstairs. We don't want neighbors to view our backyard from the side or the rear, nor to have only 10 feet side yards (5' for us and 5' for the neighbor).

I think we should be able to get at least .25 acre for $700,000+ and we have absolutely no interest in golf, and also do not want to support a golf course.

[SFBayBoomer]

I should have stated "as much as we can afford that does not go over whatever this house sells for."

We could buy a million dollar home, but then we'd have to pay the current tax rate. Our goal is to keep our current tax base, and in the SF Bay Area, we can't buy a house nicer than what we have for the same price as ours would sell for, in fact, we'd be giving up on all the best parts of our current house, which is unfortuanately way too *&^%$! small.

That's why we have the likely maximum purchase price of $725,000.

[stautxie]

@SFBayBoomer

You can take a look at the big houses in the wine country, i.e., to the east of downtown. There are quite a few around the range that you are looking for.

[Danalysd]

There are plenty of areas in Temecula where you can get no neighbors and no HOA, special assesments. Wine country being one, up the hill just west of Temecula is De Luz. I would find a real estate agent and they will have more knowledge than anyone on this board.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by Danalysd

There are plenty of areas in Temecula where you can get no neighbors and no HOA, special assesments. Wine country being one, up the hill just west of Temecula is De Luz. I would find a real estate agent and they will have more knowledge than anyone on this board.

Thank you for your suggestion about De Luz. I took a look at some De Luz properties online after your post and don't find anything which would be suitable for retirement. We don't need as much yard as the properties I saw, and I don't mind neighbors, I just don't want them so close that we can see each other inside the house or a two-story home that looks into the backyard. I would prefer a single story home surrounded by other single story homes and then a high, solid fence, which is what I have now, just with a lot more interior square footage and neighbors who maintain their property as well as we do. I want 1/4 to 1/2 to 1 acre, but I don't want to be out in the country on horse property, for example.

The homes in the photos I saw in the De Luz area look like they have been "updated" with features I don't like, also. I would prefer to add new bathroom fixtures to my own taste than to pay for the upgrades some flippers and/or landlords chose.

[Danalysd]

Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer

Thank you for your suggestion about De Luz. I took a look at some De Luz properties online after your post and don't find anything which would be suitable for retirement. We don't need as much yard as the properties I saw, and I don't mind neighbors, I just don't want them so close that we can see each other inside the house or a two-story home that looks into the backyard. I would prefer a single story home surrounded by other single story homes and then a high, solid fence, which is what I have now, just with a lot more interior square footage and neighbors who maintain their property as well as we do. I want 1/4 to 1/2 to 1 acre, but I don't want to be out in the country on horse property, for example.

The homes in the photos I saw in the De Luz area look like they have been "updated" with features I don't like, also. I would prefer to add new bathroom fixtures to my own taste than to pay for the upgrades some flippers and/or landlords chose.

Sounds like you know EXACTLY what you want. As stated a real estate agent would be your best bet instead of us trying to read your mind. Good luck

[Ghosted]

It gets hot in Temecula but I don't constantly run my AC. There's a few weeks that it gets pretty hot and you might run it more often but it's not horrible. It's still better then the muggy midwest.

[tycoon85]

Originally Posted by USDefault

Why live and pay very high California real estate, gas, water, energy, and taxes -- only to live far from the beaches and far enough from the moderating influence of the Pacific that you're going to be running your AC for months at a time? You're going to pay a significant premium to live in a nondescript bedroom suburbia, with cookie-cutter developments and stupid names like "Toscano" and "Montego" and "The Pinnacle." You can find these suburban neighborhoods anywhere else in the U.S. for significantly less.

You won't be going to the water/beaches -- it's one heck of a drive from Temecula to the ocean. Camp Pendleton is huge and blocks direct access to the coast. Gets darn hot in the summer and fall in Temecula, the only plus is it will be less humid than the southern states. And you also won't be going to the city of San Diego and environs very often either, because the drive is long, and because the traffic is an absolute nightmare. Rush hour, forget about it, you'll be stuck for hours. Don't take my word for it, check it out. Your life will be Temecula, period.

Finally, if you're looking for a new or recently-built home, beware all the HOA fees / special assessments / Mello-Roos. You could be paying quite a bit for schools and other infrastructure, stuff you won't use and don't need because you're retired. I think that's crazy.

You're a retiree. I can think of dozens of California towns up and down the coast that would offer a much better lifestyle, better weather, better food, and a better quality of life, versus being planted in Temecula, a cookie-cutter inland suburban bedroom community that exists solely to provide expensive -- but not coastal stratospheric -- housing and schools to working families who can't afford La Jolla, Del Mar, Carlsbad, Scripps Ranch. You don't need a four-bedroom house for a brood. You don't need good public elementary and high schools. You have a lot of flexibility and, in my opinion, can find a small place in a much better location for someone without the burdens of work, schools, family. You have a lot of optionality. Take advantage of it.

I have to laugh at this. I could financially live anywhere and choose Temecula. Why... because I am cheap and look for great value. How do you think I got my money?

There's always some hipster on here running down tract developed homes. However, where can you get a brand new 3,000 sq foot home in an amazing community for $400k in So Cal? There are always trade-offs in life. This poster is right on one thing. We don't go to the beach every day, but we wouldn't if we lived down the road either. We go on average 3 times a month and it is a 40 min drive. Temecula is on average 8 degrees warmer and the same cooler in the winter. It is also in the top 10 safest places in the US... you can't say that about the coast.

We can be snow skiing in Big Bear in 1.5, Vegas in 4 hours, to Catalina Island in 2.5 hours, LA under 2 hours, SAN Diego under and hour. Where else can you get great weather, decent proximity to all those amenities in an amazing house for $400k in So Cal? We love Temecula with its wine country, fantastic people and no where near the traffic of the coast. Again, everything is a trade-off and we feel we hit a homerun here.