Moving from Florida to Temecula area, need advice! (San Diego, Riverside: real estate, rental)

[walter d]

I've read some very insightful tips in this forum, but I would like to get a little more specific regarding my situation.
My wife and I will be moving from Florida to the Temecula area and will be working at Lake Skinner Park and also at Lake Perris, but mostly at Skinner.
My wife is 62 and I'm 61, we are however very fit and look much younger, we're both college educated and speak Spanish too.
We're not planning at this stage to buy a home, but to rent one, we're both realtors, so we know what we are doing in this regard.(We'll not be working real estate for the time being while in California)
About a month ago we looked in Murrietta some homes for rent and found some that were very nice and in good neighborhoods, but were too large for us (it will be just the two of us, with an occassional weekly family visit).
Then Sun City came up as another option (lots of 2 bed. 2 baths with 2 car garages which I will need), as most folks here are over 55 and the rental prices on some of these homes are excellent (due to this fact).
My question is, how good of an area is it? We don't want to live among very old people due to our lifestyle, but don't mind mingling with people our age that take care of themselves.
We don't know Wildomar very much, saw some homes in Murrietta, Temecula is very nice but prices are higher too.
I'd like to be able to get to the park in about 20' or so, will definetely not commute as most people do.
As I understand the Temecula area is somewhat blessed by a southwest wind that comes in the late afternoons, does Sun City enjoy the same weather pattern?
Any input you might have will be welcome.

[orangeapple]

Yes, Sun City weather is pretty much just like Temecula. There's maybe a 2 degree difference, max. The air quality gets better from the rest of Riverside starting in Sun City also.
With traffic, from Sun City to Lake Skinner it could be more than 20 minutes. I'd say the commute is up to 40 minutes in bad traffic, but that's unusual. Some parts of Murrieta may be just as bad, if they are not close to the freeway.
It takes me 25-30 minutes to get to work from Menifee/Sun City to Temecula in typical workers traffic.
Sun City is mostly retirement neighborhoods, but Menifee is sort of attached to it and there's a lot of younger people & families here. There's less to do in the way of shopping & eating out though.
Murrieta has some 55+ neighborhoods as well, but is not known as a "senior community" as Sun City is usually thought of.
Hope that helps

[Ohs]

Ewww you won't like Sun City, especially if you are active, it is a very old community and not as pretty as Temecula and Murrieta area. It looks more desert like with older gross mobile homes that old people retire in. No-one does anything there except eat out at Denny's and Wendy's. OLD PEOPLE. You don't sound all that old, I assure you Everywhere south of there is better. Menifee is not as built up so there isn't much there and a lot of new construction to so property taxes are higher there to pay for bigger better roads and all that. Wildomar is tiny, you could drive through it in 6 minutes and has a lot of mobile homes and lower class of residents. Also Menifee is nice but for some reason has a lot of crime, cars get broken into and stolen very easily there, I think it's because it's the closest to the lower quality places to live such as Perris and some parts of LAke Elsinore. It's a smaller area with less police force and right off the freeway so it's an easier target. You could look into Hemet, it's cheaper and more up and coming. It was known for being a "bad" area 10 years ago but has a lot of new construction and a big JR college and seems to be nicer. Either way that whole Inland Empire isn't too bad, it's still pretty affordable for southern california and centrally located.

[melbon7462]

Ohs said it all!!

[Unkllars]

You should look at Seven Oaks in Rancho Bernardo of San Diego. If you are healthy and active, you will be closer to San Diego with many options and activities. Just another option to throw out there